Orange City, IA (KICD)– A former Sioux County Deputy has plead not guilty to neglect charges.

Caleb Haverdink and his wife Jill were both charged in February with seven counts of neglect of a dependent person with a criminal complaint alleging the pair had prior knowledge that child in their care had a history of sexual abuse against children and were accused of taking no meaningful actions to mitigate the issues putting other children in danger.

Caleb Haverdink was working for the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the of the initial accusations and has since been let go. In order to avoid a conflict of interest in the investigation, local authorities and investigators recused themselves and brought in the Clay County Attorney’s Office and the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation.

Online court records show Caleb entered a written plea of not guilty last week, but no trial date has been set. Jill Haverdink is yet to be formally arraigned on charges brought against her.