DES MOINES, Iowa — An Altoona man who was sentenced on Thursday for taking inappropriate photos of a child at a store is facing new child sexual exploitation charges.
In August 2025, officers with the Altoona Police Department responded to a store located in the 3500 block of 8th Street SW on a report of a man allegedly taking inappropriate photos of a child. According to a criminal complaint, a mother told officers that a man, later identified as 37-year-old Gregory Levon Dawson, was following her and her 8-year-old daughter around the store and was taking photos of her daughter.
The complaint claims that at one point, Dawson was seen on surveillance video taking photos underneath the child’s skirt.
Dawson was arrested and charged with three counts of invasion of privacy. Court records show that Dawson pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a trial was held on April 13 of this year.
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Court records show the trial lasted one day, and a Polk County jury found Dawson guilty of all charges. Invasion of privacy is an aggravated misdemeanor in Iowa and comes with a maximum sentence of two years in prison…