Iowa City man arrested after teens report he made inappropriate sexual comments

IOWA CITY — An Iowa City man was arrested Monday after multiple minors reported he made inappropriate sexual comments toward them while they were walking on Court Hill Trail near the Memory Gardens Cemetery earlier this month.

Brayton Reynolds, 29, is charged with three counts of enticing a minor under 16 — sexual purposes, three counts of first degree harassment and one count of possession of a controlled substance.

According to criminal complaints, surveillance video in the area shows Reynolds following and approaching minors Aug. 8 and Aug. 13 on the trail.

On Aug. 8, he started following a 13-year-old who cut through the cemetery on the way to school. Reynolds followed the teen through the cemetery, and then approached and offered to perform a sex act on the teen. The 13-year-old crossed the street and started running, and Reynolds ran back into the cemetery, a complaint states.

On Aug. 13, a 13-year-old and 14-year-old were walking to school together on the Court Hill Park Trail and walked past Reynolds walking in the opposite direction. Reynolds turned around and started following the teenagers, who left the trail to cut through the cemetery. Reynolds approached the teens and offered to perform a sex act on them. The teens then ran from Reynolds, a complaint states.

On Monday, an Iowa City Police Officer was conducting an extra patrol in the area of the trail and saw Reynolds, wearing the same outfit he was wearing during the Aug. 8 incident, according to a news release from the Iowa City Police Department.

While the officer was talking with Reynolds, the teenagers from both incidents happened to walk by on their way to school and they were able to identify Reynolds as the man who approached them, according to the complaints.

Police performed a search at Reynolds’ residence Monday and found a bag with multiple THC cartridges inside that had Reynolds’ name on it, a criminal complaint states.

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