Ex-Cerro Gordo County child welfare worker gets probation for perjury in custody case

MASON CITY — It’s two years probation for a former Cerro Gordo County social services worker after a guilty plea to perjury over her false testimony that helped convince a judge to remove four children from their parents.

Former Iowa Department of Human Services employee Chelsie Gray was charged in April with making several false statements during a December 2017 hearing in which she recommended a judge terminate the parental rights of a mother and father.

The 30-year-old Gray entered an Alford plea to the one perjury felony charge in October under a plea agreement with prosecutors. Such a plea is an acknowledgment that prosecutors may have enough evidence to prove her guilt at trial but that she maintains her innocence. Prosecutors dismissed two other perjury counts and recommended a deferred judgement, meaning the charge would be wiped away from her record if she stays out of trouble. 

District Judge Kurt Wilke this week agreed with the deferred judgment recommendation and sentenced Gray to 730 days probation and issued a civil penalty of $750.