Altoona superintendent charged with sex crimes freed from federal custody

Altoona Superintendent Dan Peggs was freed Monday from federal custody on sex trafficking and possession of child pornography charges.

Peggs, 32, did not speak during an 18-minute detention hearing in U.S. District Court in Madison when a magistrate approved his release. Conditions surrounding his release include no contact with children, GPS monitoring and no access to the internet.

He did not post a cash bail and is living under house arrest in the Dane County community of Oregon.

Peggs was arrested Thursday and charged with recruiting a teenage girl to engage in prostitution between October 2015 and May 2016 in Wisconsin.

A second count charges that in December 2015, Peggs made an iPhone video of the same girl engaged in sexually explicit conduct in Wisconsin.

The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Pfluger did not object to Peggs' release, saying the case involved only one victim and Peggs stopped having contact with her when she turned 18 about 3½ years ago.

Peggs was hired by the Altoona School District in fall 2016 as middle school principal and district assessment coordinator before being named superintendent in July.

He passed his background checks in Altoona, School Board President Robin Elvig said at a news conference on the day of his arrest. Elvig also said when Peggs is released from custody, the district will place him on administrative leave, which means he will not be allowed on district grounds and cannot attend district activities.