By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — A Newton County man, accused last year of molesting a young girl in 2006 and 2007, was arrested and charged this week with molesting the same girl and a second victim since the original charges were filed.
Shannon D. Spor, 33, 9983 Jonesburg Lane, was arrested Tuesday night after an investigation by the Newton County Sheriff’s Department.
Two new charges of first-degree child molestation were filed against Spor on Thursday by the Newton County prosecutor’s office, but not before the defendant was released at the conclusion of a 24-hour hold. With the filing of the new charges, arrest warrants were issued for Spor but had yet to be served Thursday night.
Spor was charged in October of last year with three counts of molesting a girl in December 2006 and September 2007. The girl was 6 years old at the time of the charges, meaning that she was a year or two younger at the time of the alleged offenses.
One of the two charges filed Thursday concerns an alleged molestation of the same girl on Dec. 25, 2008, about two months after the original charges were filed. A probable-cause affidavit alleges that Spor went to the girl’s home for dinner on Christmas Day with her mother’s knowledge and took the girl from her playroom to another room of the home, where he touched her inappropriately.
The Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services recently became aware of the alleged incident through a call to the state’s child-abuse hot line from a “mandatory reporter.” A probable-cause affidavit alleges that Spor disclosed to the mandatory reporter that he had abused the girl twice since his initial arrest, including the occasion on Christmas Day.
State law designates certain professionals, such as doctors, nurses and educators, as mandatory reporters of possible child abuse and child sexual abuse.
Information from the same mandatory reporter also led to the second count filed against Spor on Thursday. He is accused of sexually abusing another girl under the age of 14 in November 2008. A second probable-cause affidavit states that he told a sheriff’s investigator that he touched the other girl sexually. The age of the second girl at the time of the offense is not provided in court documents.
Access
Court documents do not make clear how suspected child molester Shannon Spor gained access to his alleged victim after charges were filed last year. Defendants are routinely restricted or prohibited by state courts from contact with alleged victims while their cases are pending.
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