Man ordered to stand trial for sexual assault of teen

A Poplar Bluff man was ordered to stand trial Monday afternoon for allegedly raping and sodomizing a teenager over a nearly two-year period.

Chavez

Accompanied by his attorney, Jasper Edmundson, Robert Allen Chavez, was to appear before Associate Circuit Judge C. Wade Pierce for a preliminary hearing in his case.

The 46-year-old is charged with six unclassified felonies of first-degree statutory sodomy, the Class B felony of first-degree child molestation, one unclassified felony of first-degree rape and three Class C felonies of second-degree statutory rape.

Chavez, according to Casenet, filed a written waiver with the court.

After questioning Chavez and going over his rights, including his right to a preliminary hearing, Pierce reportedly accepted Chavez’s waiver as having been made voluntary and ordered him bound over to stand trial on the charges.

Pierce ordered Chavez to appear at 9 a.m. May 21 before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett for arraignment on the charges.

The charges against Chavez stem from an investigation, which began in late July 2014, after a call was made to the Child Abuse and Neglect hotline, and Missouri Children’s Division personnel contacted the Butler County Sheriff’s Department about the caller’s allegations.

According to then Butler County Investigator Tim Davis’ probable-cause statement, the allegations were Chavez sexually assaulted a Poplar Bluff teenager, starting when she was 13 in October 2012 and continuing through June 30, 2014.

During his investigation, Davis said, he conducted a video-recorded interview with the then 15-year-old teen who alleged the abuse initially occurred at Chavez’s home in the 4800 block of Highway T and began with fondling.

In December 2012, the teen reported to Davis that Chavez and she performed alleged sexual acts on each other.

Davis said the teen further alleged sexual intercourse and deviant sexual intercourse began in March 2013 when she 13 years old and continued until the summer of 2014.