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A former School Resource Officer (SRO) with the West Marshall School District is facing a simple misdemeanor charge of failure to report child abuse over allegations that ultimately resulted in the school board terminating their SRO contract with the State Center Police Department earlier this year.
A criminal complaint was filed against Joel Dennis Westendorf, 59, of Maxwell, on Sept. 3, and Westendorf, who is no longer employed with the SCPD, made a court appearance and pleaded not guilty the following day. A pretrial conference is scheduled for Oct. 7 at 9:30 a.m. According to the police report, Westendorf received a report of an injury to a student on Dec. 16, 2025, with physical evidence that he observed and photographed.
"At the request of (the student), Westendorf agreed to not report the injury as required of a mandatory reporter," the report reads. "By Feb. 9, 2026, Westendorf had identified and/or received six additional indications of suspected abuse to (the student). Westendorf failed to provide verbal notification within 24 hours of any of the seven indications of abuse to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS was notified of the abuse allegations on Feb. 26, 2026."
Westendorf's last day of service to the district was Feb. 26. He has been charged with a single count of failure to report child abuse, a simple misdemeanor.
State Center Police Chief Jon Thomas issued a press release about the matter Thursday in the interest of "promoting transparency and maintaining trust within the community."
"Joel Westendorf, an employee of the State Center Police Department, received information in December of 2025 which required a mandatory report to the Department of Human Services. Westendorf took the information under advisement and remained in contact with the reporting party after receiving the information mandating the report. Upon learning of this information, other members of the police department reported the incident to the Iowa Department of Human Services," the release reads. "A review of this incident was conducted with the assistance of an outside agency leading to the charge of failure to report an incident as required by Iowa law. Though unfortunate, this consequence reflects that peace officers are held accountable for their actions, specifically those where reporting an incident is required by law."