A former Fremont police officer who resigned in April after being arrested for Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) in Iowa has been charged in Dodge County Court with three different misdemeanor offenses related to claims of domestic violence and child abuse.
Payton L. Boston, 31, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was charged on July 11 with three Class I misdemeanor charges: suspicion of third degree domestic assault; and two separate counts of suspicion of child abuse.
Attempts to contact Boston for comment were unsuccessful.
Boston resigned from the Fremont Police Department on April 24, Nebraska state Crime Commission officials confirmed on April 27.
According to Iowa court documents, he pleaded guilty on July 12 to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence, first offense, a serious misdemeanor in Iowa.
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The Dodge County court filings did not contain specific details of the new allegations. Boston is scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment hearing at 9 a.m., Tuesday, July 25.
A Lincoln-based State of Nebraska prosecutor has been appointed to the case after Dodge County Attorney Pamela Hopkins filed papers with the court stating it would be a conflict of interest for her office to prosecute Boston.
According to the court filings in the case, Boston is accused of the following alleged crimes:
- Threatening an intimate partner in a menacing manner, the alleged victim a 33-year-old woman.
- Negligently cause or permit a minor child to be placed in a situation that endangered his life or physical or mental health and did not result in serious bodily injury, the alleged victim a 7-year-old boy.
- Negligently cause or permit a minor child to be placed in a situation that endangered his life or physical or mental health and did not result in serious bodily injury, the alleged victim a 5-year-old girl.
The Tribune does not identify by name alleged victims of domestic violence or child abuse.
According to the citation filed with the court, the alleged incident occurred at 2 p.m., Friday, June 16, inside a home in Fremont, and was investigated by officers with Troop A of the Nebraska State Patrol.
If found guilty of the three charges, Boston could face a maximum sentence for each of the three charges of one year in state prison and a maximum $1,000 fine.
Fremont Police Chief Jeff Elliott did not respond to requests from the Tribune seeking comment.
Boston’s OWI offense, according to Harrison County, Iowa, Sheriff’s Office officials, occurred at 4:40 a.m., Sunday, April 2, in Missouri Valley, Iowa. Boston, who has relatives who reside near the town, was arrested and booked into the Harrison County Jail and released that day.
He was arrested by Missouri Valley police, a small town about 30 miles east of Blair, across the Missouri River.
Boston could face punishment from a judge in Iowa, including possible revocation of his driver’s license for up to six months as well as potential fines or installation of an ignition “interlock” device if determined appropriate by the court.
Boston was hired at the Fremont Police Department in February 2018 after a three-year career as a corrections officer for the State of Nebraska. He graduated from the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center in 2018.
In his City of Fremont biography, he was described as a three-year veteran of the U.S. Army and a current member of the Iowa National Guard. His official place of residence in court documents is listed as Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Nebraska state law requires law enforcement agencies across the state to file a “Personal Change-in-Status Form” anytime a licensed peace officer leaves the employment of any law enforcement agency.
The form must be filed with the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center’s Nebraska Crime Commission within seven days of the separation of employment.
On April 25, Fremont Police Chief Jeff Elliott signed and submitted to the NLETC the form stating Boston had resigned from the department effective Monday, April 24.
In the reason for separation section of the form, Elliott checked a box with the description of Boston’s separation: “Resignation: before initiation or completion of an internal affairs investigation into allegations, that if founded, could result in revocation.”
Boston’s resignation in April was the third employee departure from the Fremont Police Department since March 1, 2023.
Rachel Wesely, the department’s mental health co-responder resigned from the department and worked her last day on March 3.
The other departure was longtime police detective Matt Hultquist, whose last day of work was as Friday, April 21. Hultquist took a new job as an investigator with the Saunders County Sheriff’s Office.
The department did get a new officer on July 11, when the Fremont City Council approved the hiring of Gabriel Steele as a new officer.