A former part-time cop with the Stover, Mo., Police
Department has been charged and arraigned on three counts of second degree
statutory rape. Aaron Nelson, 22, is accused of having sex with three girls a
total of six times under the age of 17, according to LakeNewsOnline.com.
Nelson's employment with the department has since been terminated.
ConnectedMissouri.com
reveals the incidents happened inside the perpetrator's home in California, Mo.
Two of the girls were 16 and another was 15.
The case is being
heard in Moniteau County, where the alleged rapes occurred. The rapes allegedly
happened between April and December.
According to a probable cause statement posted by Connected
Missouri, one girl gave statements to California Police Department officer
Scott Harkins on Saturday. The 15-year-old told Harkins she had "sexual
intercourse... on multiple occasions... between the dates of Nov. 1 and Dec.
31."
Nelson was read his
Miranda rights on Sunday and admitted to having sex with the girl just once.
Two other victims spoke to the investigating officer on the same day of
Nelson's arrest.
One 16-year-old girl
claims she had sex with Harkins three times. Two times were in April and
another was at the end of the year. The other 16-year-old says she had
intercourse with Nelson just one time in early November.
In all, the teenage victims allege Nelson had sex with them
a total of six times, four of them since early November. Nelson admitted to
having sex with all three girls, just not all of the alleged incidents.
If convicted on all three counts, Nelson faces a total of 21
years in prison as a class C felony. Statutory rape in the second degree is the
charge for when someone 21 or older has sex with someone under the age of 17.
Nelson was arraigned Monday and a court hearing was held a
day later. According to a search of Missouri Case Net records, Nelson filled
out paperwork for a public defender. A counsel status hearing is set for
Tuesday. No bond information was publicly posted.
A further search of
court records indicates Nelson was arraigned on littering charges in the spring
of 2009. Other minor infractions include traffic tickets over four years.
Stover is a small
town in central Missouri west of Jefferson City with a population of 1,091.
California is about 35 miles away to the northeast with a population of 4,304.
California is part of the Jefferson City Metropolitan Statistical Area.