Iowa teacher who secretly filmed people is released from jail after filing notice of appeal, posting bond

Clinton Randolph VanFossen, 61, was released at 4:51 p.m. after having posted a $13,000 cash appeal bond.

VanFossen’s appeal was filed Wednesday morning by his attorney, Ryan Beckenbaugh.

VanFossen is appealing to the Supreme Court of Iowa “from the final order entered in this case on the 3rd day of January 2023 and from all adverse rulings and orders inhering therein.”

VanFossen was charged on Jan. 16, 2020, with five counts of invasion of privacy and one count of preventing apprehension or obstructing prosecution. Each is an aggravated misdemeanor under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of two years.

He also was charged with one count of mechanical eavesdropping, a serious misdemeanor that carries a jail sentence of up to one year.

The videos were taken between Dec. 26, 2019, and Jan. 4. 2020.

After a bench trial, Scott County District Judge Meghan Corbin found VanFossen guilty of all the charges, releasing her decision on Dec. 5.

On Tuesday, Corbin sentenced VanFossen to two years in prison on three of the seven counts to run consecutive to one another, or back-to-back.

On the other three aggravated misdemeanors, Crobin sentenced VanFossen to two years in prison on each count, and to one year in jail on the serious misdemeanor. Those sentences are to run concurrent to one another and concurrent to the sentences on the other three counts.

In total, VanFossen was sentenced to six years in prison, but that does not take into account when he would be deemed eligible for parole.