Missouri man accused of multiple child sex crimes
LAWRENCE COUNTY, Mo. — A Verona, Missouri man is facing multiple child sex crime charges after reportedly admitting to having sex with a juvenile last fall.
Aurora-Marionville Police officers arrested Kenneth Shriver, 33, on July 10, following an investigation into a report from the Missouri Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline back in February of this year about a 13-year-old girl being raped on two separate occasions in 2023.
According to a probable cause statement, the girl reported the abuse after telling her parents that she was raped by Shriver, a family friend.
Shriver was reportedly making plumbing repairs at the girl’s home when the alleged assault first happened. There, according to court records, Shriver asked the girl, who was 12-years-old at the time, to ensure the water was working in an upstairs bathroom when he followed her into the bathroom before raping her. Authorities say the girl said Shriver stayed overnight at the residence and raped her again later.
FOUR STATES CRIME…
The girl went on to exchange hundreds of messages over Facebook Messenger with Shriver according to a search warrant, many of the messages were illicit. Authorities say the communication between the girl and Shriver continued until this past February, two days before the hotline report was made.
Prosecutor’s charged Shriver with two counts of first degree statutory rape, enticement of a child, tampering with evidence (for allegedly deleting messages), and two counts of first degree statutory sodomy.
According to police, Shriver admitted to having sex with the girl, but according to Shriver, the girl pursued him. He told police she “harassed and blackmailed him into having sex with her.”
The age of consent in Missouri is 17. A 13-year-old girl is not legally able to give consent.
Court records show Shriver had a previous criminal charge filed in Newton County in 2022, for statutory rape of another 12-year-old girl, but it was dismissed in 2024. According to the Newton County Prosecutor’s Office, court proceedings in the previous case were “too triggering” for the previous victim.
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