Jackson man charged with molesting 8-year-old

A Jackson man was in custody Wednesday facing child-molestation charges in what prosecutors saying he inappropriately touched an 8-year-old girl this month while she was in his care.

Nicholas J. Goetz, 35, charged with first-degree child molestation, is being held at the Cape Girardeau County Jail on a $50,000 bond, according to court records. The charge carries a possible prison sentence of up to 15 years.

Special conditions that Goetz would have to agree to, should he post bond, include no contact with a child under the age of 17 and he would have to be placed on house arrest. He also would also have to stay at least 1,000 feet from the residence of the alleged victim.

A probable-cause statement filed with the circuit clerk's office, says the 8-year-old's mother spoke with a sheriff's deputy on Oct. 14. The girl's mother said she had left her daughter in the care of Goetz for 45 minutes the day before, the statement says. Upon her return, she said, her daughter had closed herself into a bedroom. The girl told her mother in her own language, the record says, that Goetz had subjected her to sexual abuse. The victim was taken to Beacon Health Center, where she told a similar account.

The case was filed in Judge Gary Kamp's associate circuit court and Goetz may be arraigned as early as Monday.