A criminal justice professor was arrested on Washington County charges Sunday.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office arrested 53-year-old Richard Jay Buffington of Winfield at about 1:11 p.m. in Ainsworth for charges of stalking, an aggravated misdemeanor, and electronic or mechanical eavesdropping, a serious misdemeanor. Criminal complaints show sometime between December 21, 2021 and January 5th of this year Buffington allegedly placed a recording device in his ex-wife’s vehicle. He then took his 13 and 15-year-old daughters to his Iowa Wesleyan University office and played the recordings for them. One of the daughters then obtained the recording device from Buffington’s bedroom night stand along with a zip drive and turned it into law enforcement. The daughters also provided photos where Buffington drove them at 3 a.m. to their mother’s residence, and a Ring security camera showed him leaving throughout the night during which nails were placed in the tires of the ex-wife’s vehicle. He also allegedly admitted to the ex wife that he had tracked her whereabouts via Onstar. KCII will bring you more information as it becomes official.