Almost a year after he was initially arrested, a Charles City man has agreed to plead guilty to child endangerment.
23-year-old Ezekiel Larson and 20-year-old Madison Geerts were charged on September 19 2022 after their then-four-month-old infant was injured in Larson’s care, but neither sought medical attention for the child for four days. During that time, the infant was vomiting and not sleeping or eating.
In July, Geerts pleaded guilty to child endangerment causing bodily injury, a Class D felony. Earlier this month, she was sentenced to five years of probation with a five-year prison term fully suspended.
Friday (09.15), Larson also entered a guilty plea with the possibility of a five-year prison sentence fully suspended and a minimum three years of probation.
His sentencing hearing has now been set for November 13th in Floyd County District Court.
It’s not the end of legal issues for the couple. In January, they were ordered to pay their landlord, Garrett Bellinger, over $6,500 in back rent and utilities. Court records showed they had not paid rent from May to October of 2022.
In March, Bellinger filed a complaint that they had not made any payment to him and has sought a debtor’s examination of their assets to determine how the couple could pay him back.
In August, bench warrants were issued for the arrests of Geerts and Larson after they both failed to appear for a contempt of court hearing scheduled after neither showed for an April hearing related to money they owed Bellinger.
They were arrested September 5th while both were at the Floyd County Courthouse for Geerts’ sentencing hearing. They each bonded out of jail for $300 and a continuance was ordered to reschedule their contempt of court hearing for October 9th in Floyd County District Court.
