By Jeff Lehr

jlehr@joplinglobe.com

NEOSHO, Mo. — The Newton County prosecutor’s office filed an additional charge this week against a rural Joplin man now suspected of molesting two underage girls.

Douglas Leeroy Bradley, 39, 3885 Impala Drive, was arrested Tuesday on a single new count of first-degree child molestation. The charge stems from the allegations of a 14-year-old girl, who claims Bradley molested her in June of last year when she was 13, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed by Det. Mike Barnett of the Newton County Sheriff’s Department.

The girl told authorities that Bradley had touched her breasts and taken her hand and made her touch him.

The suspect had been charged previously, on May 12, with two counts of first-degree child molestation and two counts of enticement of a child.

Those charges pertain to a 13-year-old girl who was interviewed by another sheriff’s investigator on April 25 and alleged that Bradley molested her on three or four occasions in the preceding six months.

That girl told the investigator that Bradley also had asked her to send him nude pictures of herself, which she had refused to do.

A probable-cause affidavit filed by Bradley Black, the sheriff’s investigator in the first case, states that the suspect told him that he did not feel he had touched the girl in any inappropriate way, but acknowledged that he had made several inappropriate comments to her regarding sexual matters.

Sheriff Ken Cropland told the Globe that Bradley retained a lawyer in the course of the initial investigation and the lawyer was able to arrange for him to appear in court on a summons rather than face arrest. But he was arrested on Tuesday in the second case, the sheriff said.

Barnett’s affidavit states that he tried to talk to Bradley about the second girl’s allegation, but the suspect said he had to talk to his lawyer first. The lawyer, Ross Rhodes, subsequently contacted Barnett and told him that he did not want his client talking to him, according to the affidavit.

Bond posted

Douglas Leeroy Bradley posted $10,000 bond after his arrest this week and was released from jail.