Kimball City Councilman Scott Haun, 48, was arrested and held in the Scotts Bluff County jail last week on charges of first degree sexual assault of a child between the ages of 12 and 16, according to an affidavit for warrant filed with the Scotts Bluff County Court October 12.

Scotts Bluff County Attorney Douglas Warner filed the charges against Haun which allege that Haun had inappropriate contact with a male child at the child’s Scottsbluff home on September 3.

According to a Scotts Bluff Sheriff deputy’s notarized report of the incident,  dated October 12, the child’s mother and her husband were home during the reported incident. Haun was an invited guest at the house and has been referred to as a friend of the mother’s husband.

According to the mother, the child in this case is mentally disabled.

The names of the child, mother and husband have not yet been released.

Haun appeared in court on Friday, October 14. The complaint was read to him at that time. Later in the day he posted the required percentage of bail, which had been set at $150,000. According to Warner, as conditions of his release on bond, the councilman is not to leave the state of Nebraska or change his permanent address within the state without permission of the court.

At press time a date for Haun’s preliminary hearing had not been set. At this hearing, Warner said, the county will present evidence to establish probable cause.

“If the judge agrees,” Warner added, “the case will be bound over to district court.”

Haun was elected to a four year term to the Kimball City Council in 2008. He will be up for reelection in February. For an elected official to sit in council, he or she must meet state requirements of United States citizenship, local residence and a record listing no prior felonies.

The council will continue with its regular schedule of business, said Mayor James Schnell.

Referring to the charges against Haun, he added “the court will have its due process.”

The sheriff deputy’s incident report indicated that the three adults were drinking alcohol and watching television while the child was in his bedroom. The mother of the child reported to the sheriff’s deputy that Haun had asked to use the restroom. After several minutes had passed, the mother got up to check on her son and noticed Haun in the bedroom with the child, kneeling on the floor next to the child’s bed. The mother reportedly asked Haun to leave the room.

The mother of the child told law enforcement authorities on September 4 that the child claimed that Haun had touched him inappropriately on the evening before. A Nebraska State Patrol Lieutenant interviewed the boy.

Haun was questioned by sheriff investigators and submitted to a polygraph examination at the Nebraska State Patrol office in Scottsbluff. According to the affidavit for warrant, Haun first denied inappropriate contact with the boy but later revised his story after the polygraph results suggested deception.