An Iowa mother best known for her vocal stance against mandatory mask policies and who recently launched a public diatribe against drag performers was arrested Friday after allegedly falsely reporting sexual abuse within the family of her former business partner.
Along the way, all vestiges of a once formidable alliance between women at the forefront of far-right activism went up in flames.
Kimberly Reicks, the 39-year-old who founded the controversial activist group Iowa Mama Bears, was arrested Friday morning on seven charges after allegedly making at least two calls to the Department of Human Resources against Emily Peterson’s family.
In those calls, according to criminal charges obtained by The Daily Beast, Reicks falsely claimed that Peterson’s husband had broken their daughter’s phone — and that the Petersons’ teenage son was sexually abusing a sibling. The complaint says that during the latest call on August 9, Reicks “claimed to be a neighbor” who was informed of the sexual abuse allegations by her own son, who in turn supposedly learned about them from an underage victim in the Peterson family.
In reality, prosecutors argue, Reicks does not have a son by the name she has told DHS — and “lives across town” as her former partner’s family.
“Their children had been out of contact for several months at that point,” the indictment said.
Prosecutors say the call was made shortly after Peterson texted Reicks’ husband “about a key to a lockbox.” This is said to have prompted Reicks to text her former business partner and accuse her of having an affair with her husband.
The indictment says another anonymous call to DHS was made “shortly after” Peterson “ended her business relationship” with Reicks in May, “which left her very upset.”
The shocking charges against Reicks come more than a year after she and Peterson made a name for themselves in far-right communities for outspoken activism against mask mandates in schools. Describing themselves as the “Iowa Mama Bears,” they attended the April 2021 Health and Freedom conference, an event that featured prominent QAnon sympathizer Mike Flynn, according to Politifact. (Reicks denied being a QAnon supporter.) During the conference, Reicks held up a sign with a photo of her daughter’s face on it that read, “My mask caused a staph infection on my face four times. My body… my choice. Unmask Iowa.”
A month later, the Mama Bears were invited to sign a bill by the Iowa government, Kim Reynolds, banning all orders for school masks.
Prison records show that Reicks was booked into the Polk County Jail just after 3 a.m. Friday on two counts of falsely reporting child abuse, one count of falsely reporting a criminal offense to a public body, and four counts of harassment. The indictment also states that the Peterson family requested a restraining order against Reicks, noting that they often attend the same events.
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Reicks did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a Polk County clerk told The Daily Beast that she “has been given a public defender, but no specific one has been appointed”.
The Petersons could not be immediately reached for comment.
While it wasn’t entirely clear what prompted Peterson and Reicks to cut ties, the Iowa Mama Bears website on Friday appeared to have only the last Mama Bear. She called herself an “accidental activist,” Reicks says on the site that she “became embroiled in the fight for her children’s rights” after schools began to close as the COVID pandemic spread across the country.
Since then, Reicks has delved into school controversies ranging from COVID vaccination to LGTBQ content. Earlier this month, she attended an Ankeny School Board meeting dressed in an outfit she said was similar to that of an after-school drag performer. The stunt was a protest against what she tried to claim was an inappropriate display for children, following a far-right panic over non-existent LGTBQ threats to children, supported by governors like Ron DeSantis.
During her impassioned speech, Reicks demanded an apology for the May performance organized by Ankeny High School’s Gay Straight Alliance — and a resolution “to make sure this doesn’t happen again on school grounds.”
“How are we going to entrust you – the board members – to do what’s right for us parents and make sure the kids know what’s right?” Reicks added, according to the Des Moines Register.
But according to the Polk County Attorney’s Office, Reicks took shocking — and illegal — retaliatory action against her former boyfriend. Prosecutors allege that the talks began in May 2022, when DHS received an anonymous tip about Peterson’s husband and a broken cell phone.
Peterson later explained to authorities that she had, in fact, spoken to Reicks about a broken phone incident in February, and the DHS eventually dismissed the report “because of a lack of responsible abuse or neglect of faith.” Prosecutors now say Reicks knew the allegation was “false” and that she “tried to harass the Peterson family”.
The complaint notes that the second appeal, posted three months later, was also “considered false”. DHS provided the number and recordings of the calls to authorities, who later concluded that Reicks had made both reports.
Reicks initially denied calling DHS last month, but “admitted it after being given the evidence”.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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