Cassville man formally indicted on sex charges
Peteron
March 11, 2015
Charlea Mills
A former Barry County man was formally indicted on two counts of sex crimes by a federal grand jury last week.
Michael Douglas Peterson, 32, of Morristown, Tenn., had a federal criminal complaint filed against him on January 23 for using a minor to produce child pornography and using a cell phone to entice the minor to engage in illicit sexual behavior.
According to an affidavit of probable cause by Task Force Officer Tim Williams with the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, Peterson and the 15 year-old victim had sexual intercourse in March 2014 in Cassville, and the investigation was initiated by the Cassville Police Department.
According to Williams, Peterson and the victim exchanged multiple photographs via SnapChat on their cell phones as well as illicit conversations. A warrant was initially issued through Barry County for statutory rape in the second degree, but officers were unable to locate Peterson to serve it.
Officers eventually located Peterson in Morristown, Tenn., where he was living with the victim, who was pregnant with Peterson’s child, and her biological mother. Peterson stated in an interview that he had been living with the victim since June 2014. The victim’s mother was aware of the sexual nature of their relationship and allowed Peterson to live with her daughter, according to the court papers.
The victim was taken into protective custody of the state of Tennessee and placed in foster care pending an investigation, according to the affidavit.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI.
Charlea Mills
A former Barry County man was formally indicted on two counts of sex crimes by a federal grand jury last week.
Michael Douglas Peterson, 32, of Morristown, Tenn., had a federal criminal complaint filed against him on January 23 for using a minor to produce child pornography and using a cell phone to entice the minor to engage in illicit sexual behavior.
According to an affidavit of probable cause by Task Force Officer Tim Williams with the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, Peterson and the 15 year-old victim had sexual intercourse in March 2014 in Cassville, and the investigation was initiated by the Cassville Police Department.
According to Williams, Peterson and the victim exchanged multiple photographs via SnapChat on their cell phones as well as illicit conversations. A warrant was initially issued through Barry County for statutory rape in the second degree, but officers were unable to locate Peterson to serve it.
Officers eventually located Peterson in Morristown, Tenn., where he was living with the victim, who was pregnant with Peterson’s child, and her biological mother. Peterson stated in an interview that he had been living with the victim since June 2014. The victim’s mother was aware of the sexual nature of their relationship and allowed Peterson to live with her daughter, according to the court papers.
The victim was taken into protective custody of the state of Tennessee and placed in foster care pending an investigation, according to the affidavit.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI.
