Career
Curtis was the subject of a defense campaign by the SWP after he was charged and convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in 1988. The SWP and others of Curtis"s defenders claimed that he had been framed by the police due to his politics and his trade union activities. Curtis was paroled in 1996 after serving eight years of a 25-year sentence in Iowa State Penitentiary.
Two police officers who arrested Curtis were found guilty of battery in 1992 and ordered to pay $11,000 in damages.
Curtis claimed that he was stopped at a traffic light in Des Moines when a woman approached him, said she was being followed and asked for a ride home. He claims that on arriving at her house he accompanied her to the porch at which point police came from behind, handcuffed him and pulled down his trousers.
The 15-year-old girl, Demetria Morris, said she and her 11-year-old brother were watching television when Curtis knocked on their door asking for directions. The Morris family was awarded $80,000 in damages after suing Curtis.
