The state recently filed a motion asking a Butler County judge to allow the admission of evidence which it says would demonstrate the alleged propensity of a former Naylor assistant principal to commit sexual-related crimes against children.
Ripley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kacey Proctor filed the motion in Butler County Circuit Court in late May in the case of John Franklin Mullins, who had been granted a change of venue from Ripley County.
The 54-year-old Gatewood, Mo., man is charged with the unclassified felonies of first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy and two Class D felonies of sexual contact with a student.
Mullins is accused of sexually assaulting a then 16-year-old female student on Oct. 23, 2015, in a supply closet at the school.
It was during the investigation into those allegations that authorities learned of a possible second victim -- a then 15-year-old female.
That teen, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Johnson's probable-cause statement, "stated Mr. Mullins had touched her" inappropriately while at school on Oct. 21, 2015.
Mullins subsequently was charged with two Class D felonies of sexual contact with a student and also granted a change of venue to Butler County in that case.
Mullins is to appear before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett at 1 p.m. July 18 for a pretrial conference in both cases.
Proctor's motion reportedly may be taken up during that hearing.
In his motion, Proctor said, the state had charged Mullins with multiple counts of sexual crimes against children, including first-degree statutory sodomy.
The state alleges Mullins committed these "crimes against a student," while he was an assistant principal at Naylor.
Proctor's motion further alleges Mullins committed sexual crimes "against other children, who were students of his, while he was a teacher and/or an assistant principal at Naylor High School."
The motion cites the additional charges Mullins has pending, which allegedly involve a second student.
"The state is aware of several other incidents (where Mullins) has committed crimes of a sexual nature against child students of his, where (he) was never charged," Proctor's motion said.
In support of his motion, Proctor cited Article 1 of the Missouri Constitution.
It says: " ... in prosecutions of crimes of a sexual nature involving a victim under 18 years of age, relevant evidence or prior criminal acts, whether charged or uncharged, is admissible for the purpose of corroborating the victim's testimony or demonstrating a defendant's propensity to commit the crime with which he or she is presently charged."
The court, it further says, may exclude relevant evidence of prior criminal acts "if the probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice."
Proctor asked the court to set a hearing, at which time the state could present witness testimony regarding the "previous sexual acts committed against a minor child by (Mullins)."
Proctor also asked the court to consider the state's argument that Mullins' "history amounts to (his) propensity to commit crimes of a sexual nature" involving children under 18.
The state, he said, contends such evidence is relevant to the "case at hand because the crimes are consistent with past allegations" against Mullins.
The state is seeking to present that evidence at Mullins' trial, which is slated for Aug. 8-11 in Butler County and involves the elder teen.