What started out as a report of possible child abuse has landed Lennox Chief Financial Officer and her husband behind bars after local authorities discovered over 50 animals in a rural Lennox home.
Deputies of the Police Department were called to a rural Lennox home on Monday, November 4.
“The initial report came in at 2:10 p.m. that there was potential child abuse going on in the home,” Lincoln County Sheriff, Steve Swenson said. When officers knocked on the door, they were faced with a potential abuse situation and an animal abuse and neglect situation all in one house. “I didn’t make it into the house because of the odor, but we knew everyone, and every animal needed to be out,” he said.
Through the investigation the sheriff’s office found over 50 animals living in the home.
“I think we are still trying to capture some cats, but the Sioux Falls Humane Society has picked up all these animals that we could get,” Swenson said.
By 5:40 p.m. both Heidi Ihnen and Clint Ihnen were arrested on two counts of felony child abuse, 15 counts of animal neglect and two counts of simple assault on Clint.
According to Lincoln County State’s Attorney, Tom Wollman, Heidi, Lennox’s Finance Officer since June of 2024, was released on a personal recognizance (PR) bond Tuesday morning. Clint was also released Tuesday on a $500 bond.
“Heidi was granted the PR bond Tuesday morning on conditions of good behavior, making all court appearances, she remains in contact with her attorney, and that she assists the Humane Society with the removal of additional animals and not have any contact with the victims or the co-defendant. His bond was $500 cash plus those same conditions,” Wollman said.
With no ordinance on how many animals can be had outside of city limits, Swenson and Wollman agree that there will need to be tax dollars used to clean up this mess.
“Taxpayer dollars will go into this if we have to keep these dogs, there’s a potential that the sheriff’s office will be responsible for caring for them until things run through court. Taxpayer money was also spent when we spent a couple of days at the house,” Swenson said.
“I don’t have a figure at this point, and certainly my office is always mindful of costs associated with prosecutions, but all of our prosecutions do cost the tax payers some money. We recoup some of that through fines and costs and other penalties but at the end of the day we use our best judgment to make sure we are not unnecessarily spending tax payers money when seeking justice, but at the end of the day, these things cost money,” Wollman added.
Sheriff Swenson encourages all to report any sign of animal abuse or child abuse they come across.
“The last time we were at that residence was in 2022 for an unrelated incident,” said Swenson.
“People drive down that road every day, I’ve traveled down that road many times and we’ve never received any complaints about animals and I need people to know if they see something say something. No child should have to wait,” Swenson continued.
The Sioux Falls Humane Society Community Outreach Director, Dana Konzem is working with these animals to get them on the road to recovery.
“If anyone wants to help, we need unrestricted donations, that means we are able to use the funds towards anything that we need at that moment. For example if we use all of our toys and blankets for these animals then that will allow us to purchase more for our regular animals, not just restricted to these specific ones. Donations should be made through the website. We are also offering 20 per cent off adoption fees for the animals we have now to help reduce the strain on our resources,” she said.
A donation site has been set up for the Ihnen children through Alisha De Haan.
“Donations can be brought to Lennox Lumber Co. Monetary donations can be sent to Venmo @adehaan3 or cash, checks, and gift cards can also be left at Lennox Lumber Co. There is an updated list of needs on Facebook along with the Foster Network Giving Tree that will help the boys and hundreds of other children in foster care,” De Haan said.
The City of Lennox was asked for a statement regarding Heidi Ihnen’s employment status and City Administrator, Nate VanderPlaats responded
“The City of Lennox does not comment on any personnel matters.”
Wollman reminds everyone that there are many parts of this case that are private and not open to the public.
“A preliminary hearing is set for December 20, I would anticipate they would be back in court before then to proceed with charges for the grand jury process,” he said.