Lang
6/4/25
A Waterloo man has been given a suspended sentence after he was accused of assaulting his two sons and threatening them with a firearm during a visit to Lake Macbride Campground last summer.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says 42-year-old Matthew Potter was camping with his two adult sons, who are intellectually disabled, at the campground on the afternoon of July 20th, 2024. A witness claimed Potter had assaulted one of his sons and pulled a gun on the other when he tried to intervene. The two sons told investigators Potter had yanked one of them off his bicycle and pulled him into the camper, where he began beating him. The other son heard his brother screaming, but Potter’s wife, identified as Samantha Potter, briefly blocked the son from entering the camper. The other son eventually made it inside and pulled his father off his brother, but Matthew Potter reportedly responded by pulling out a gun and aiming it at the intervening son, placing a pillow between the son and the firearm.
Neighboring campers and Potter himself corroborated that there was an argument, with Potter allegedly admitting to “smacking” his son. The son who was reportedly assaulted showed signs of bruising on his back.
The two sons were living with the Potters part-time at the time of the incident.
Matthew Potter was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault Using a Weapon and Domestic Abuse Assault Causing Injury. If convicted on both charges, he would have faced a maximum of four years in jail.
On Friday, Judge Brandon Schrock sentenced Potter to a one-year suspended sentence as part of a plea deal.