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Cranberry Township man, area coach charged with child sexual abuse in Iowa

A Cranberry Township man, who had worked as a hockey coach in Western Pennsylvania, is facing charges related to allegedly sexually abusing two boys in Iowa.

Kyle Alan Dirks, 38, is accused of continuous sexual abuse of one child from 2017 through 2021 and another child from 2017 through 2019 while the boys either watched television or played video games, court documents show.

One of the alleged victims is now 14 years old. The other is 17 years old.

Dirks was charged with four felony counts of sexual abuse in Woodbury County, Iowa. Charges were filed Sept. 19 and 23.

The Woodbury County district court clerk said Dirks’ current residence was in Cranberry Township, and, according to Robert Morris University Sentry Media, Dirks had formerly been a volunteer hockey coach at the university.

Further, a Pittsburgh-area hockey coaching agency, Shane Clifford Goalie School, announced on social media Wednesday, Oct. 2, that Dirks was no longer associated with the organization.

According to charging documents from Woodbury County, a child advocacy center interviewed two juvenile victims on June 5, and each said Dirks touched them inappropriately at his house, starting as early as 2017.

One of the victims said Dirks would take him to get food and watch TV at his house. The victim said he believed he was 8 years old when Dirks first touched him inappropriately, which would have been in 2018 or 2019.

The last time Dirks touched him was when he was around 11 years old, in 2021, the victim said. The victim said Dirks only stopped touching him when Dirks moved away from Sioux City, Iowa.

The other victim, who is almost three years older than the other victim, told the child advocacy center that Dirks first touched him inappropriately in 2017 or 2018, when Dirks would bring him to his house.

The older victim said he sometimes saw the younger victim at Dirks’ house.

Court documents show that Dirks posted a $50,000 bail on Sept. 30. Documents show he had a court appearance scheduled for Oct. 2 and is scheduled to next appear in court on Oct. 10.

In a search of local court dockets online, Dirks' name does not appear.

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