Judge narrows lawsuit involving Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department

A judge has narrowed a lawsuit involving a former sheriff’s deputy and a digitally altered nude photo. The judge dismissed Buchanan County and its sheriff from the lawsuit filed against a Buchanan County deputy for digitally altering a photo of a former deputy to make it appear she was posing with her shirt open. Crystal Kiesau (Key-saw) is seeking punitive and emotional stress damages for the photograph that was altered by Buchanan County deputy Tracy Bantz. Kiesau included Buchanan County Sheriff Leonard Davis in the suit, claiming that Davis failed to fire or discipline Bantz. The judge ruled that Davis’ inaction was questionable, but was not reckless behavior. Both Davis and the county were dismissed from the suit. Kiesau’s attorney says he’ll appeal the ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court after Bantz’s trial, which is scheduled for April 30th.