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Montana man arrested in Pettis County Sheriff’s Office case

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The search for a Montana man wanted in Pettis County has ended.

Raymond L.E. Kennedy, of Kalispell, Montana, is in custody at the Pettis County Jail on a $250,000 bond, cash or surety. Judge Jeff Mittelhauser, of the Pettis County Circuit Court, issued a warrant for his arrest Feb. 15 for six felony charges.

Kennedy is facing two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor child and four counts of sexual misconduct involving a child under 15. Court records show he was arrested Friday and had his arraignment Monday.

The Pettis County Sheriff’s Office coordinated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations Division in Montana to locate and apprehend the suspect. Detective Mark Morgan, of the Sheriff’s Office, filed a probable cause statement with the court on Feb. 14, explaining his investigation into the case.

On Jan. 20, 2017, a Sheriff’s Office deputy took a report from a 13-year-old boy from Pettis County and his mother, who brought a tablet with text messages between the boy and Kennedy. The messages showed Kennedy, who was 22 at the time, had asked the boy to perform a sexual act for him, according to the probable cause statement.

Morgan found Kennedy was a member of the U.S. military stationed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. The detective passed the case to the Whiteman Air Force Base Office of Special Investigations, as the investigation was within the office’s jurisdiction.

In May, Morgan learned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had interest in the case, as Kennedy was released from the military without any prosecution. Morgan was asked to revisit the case in late 2017.

He set up an interview with the boy at Child Safe of Central Missouri on Jan. 23 this year. During the interview, the boy said Kennedy befriended him through online games and began asking him to perform sexual acts.

When Kennedy asked for his age, the boy said he was 16, as his mother had told him not to give out his real age. The two of them exchanged several text messages before they started to use video chats on Facebook Messenger.

The boy described a time when Kennedy performed a sexual act in a video chat and showed his genitals. He then asked the boy to do the same, according to the probable cause statement. Kennedy also showed nude photos of a girl he was dating, the boy said.

Morgan reported he found about five entries showing a video chat had taken place between the boy and the suspect.

Kennedy had threatened the boy, as well, saying he would find him and rape him, according to the statement. Text messages on the boy’s tablet showed that Kennedy was very insistent on the boy performing sexual acts for him. He reportedly pressured the 13-year-old by threatening to terminate the relationship if he didn’t comply.

Kennedy’s next hearing will take place at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday for attorney status. A defense attorney hasn’t yet entered onto the case.



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