Cassidy Sue Kraus (left) in a Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa, mug shot and (right) as seen in a profile picture from November 2022 on her Facebook page.
An Iowa teacher accused of sending “obscene” materials to three minors on Snapchat has pleaded guilty to charges of sexually abusing a 14-year-old child.
Cassidy Sue Kraus, a 24-year-old middle school reading teacher who reportedly resigned from her job in the IKM-Manning Community School District (CSD), pleaded guilty to charges including third-degree sexual abuse and two counts of lascivious acts with a child. She’s set to be sentenced on March 11, according to online court records.
Kraus allegedly “knowingly disseminat[ed] obscene material” to Victim 1 between January 2022 and May 2022 and to Victims 2 and 3 between January 2023 and June 2023, each time using Snapchat, according to Carroll County criminal complaints obtained by Law&Crime.
According to investigators, however, the suspect’s conduct did not just occur on an app. Kraus is accused of committing lascivious acts against a 13-year-old in May 2022 by “fondling or touching” the victim and causing the “touching of the person’s genitals to any part of the body of the child.” The complaint noted that Kraus is a “mandatory reporter of child abuse as a teacher employed by the IKM-Manning Community School District.”
Kraus was also accused of committing third-degree sexual abuse against a 14-year-old between Jan. 17 and Jan. 31 by “performing sex acts” while, again, being a mandatory reporter of child abuse.
While the disseminating obscene materials counts are classified as serious misdemeanors, the lascivious acts and third-degree sexual abuse charges are class C felonies typically punishable by not more than 10 years under Iowa law — if the accused is a first-time offender, as is alleged in this case.
Cassidy Sue Kraus, née Branning, previously made the dean’s list at Iowa State University multiple times for “outstanding academic achievement” in her elementary education coursework. She also went to the school in IKM-Manning CSD, the very district where she later taught. Local news accounts show that Kraus, then known as Cassie Branning, was a runner on the IKM-Manning Girls Track & Field team.
She resigned in August, Des Moines, Iowa, CBS affiliate KCCI reported.
Law&Crime’s Matt Naham contributed to this report.
