Marble Hill man accused in sexual assault of teen

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- He sometimes would bring her presents after sexually assaulting her, the 14-year-old girl later told police. She specifically mentioned two blankets and a pair of pajama pants.

One time, the girl said, he threatened to hurt her father if she told anyone about what happened -- in the barn, just before her sister's birthday party, and the night he crept into her bedroom.

According to charging documents, Larry J. LaRose Jr. allegedly attempted to keep the girl quiet during a few weeks last month while, on three occasions, he raped, molested and sodomized her while he was left alone to watch her.

LaRose, 39, of Marble Hill, pleaded not guilty last month when he was first charged, but he was ordered to stand trial by a Bollinger County judge after his Dec. 20 preliminary hearing. On Wednesday, prosecutor Stephen Gray filed charges at the circuit court level -- four felony counts of second-degree statutory sodomy and one misdemeanor child molestation charge.

If convicted, LaRose faces more than 35 years in prison. His next court appearance will be before Judge Benjamin Lewis on Jan. 3. LaRose has been in police custody on a $50,000 cash-only bond since his Nov. 26 arrest, according to a dispatcher with the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department.

LaRose's lawyer, Christopher Davis of the public defender's office, did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday.

A probable-cause statement that lays out the police's version of events was prepared by Della K. Moore, a deputy with the department. On Nov. 20, the victim told medical professionals at Southeast Hospital she had been sexually assaulted, Moore said. The child was sent to Beacon Health Center for a forensic interview, Moore said.

During the interview, the victim gave a statement that was video recorded in which she identified LaRose as the man who had assaulted her, Moore said. The assaults occurred on at least three occasions, she said, once the day of her sister's birthday, when her father left her alone with LaRose for a short time before the party.

LaRose allegedly ordered the girl to her bedroom and followed her before sexually assaulting her, the girl said.

Another time, LaRose had her perform a sex act on him inside a barn while her parents were in Cape Girardeau looking for a job, the girl said. He had offered to help her fix her broken bed, she said, but he lured her into the barn where he said he needed to get some wood.

About a week before the girl was taken to the hospital, LaRose came into her bedroom while she was sleeping, the girl said. After that alleged incident, she said, LaRose told her "he would hurt her dad" if she told.

Gray declined to say much beyond what was written in the statement, but he did add that LaRose was staying with the victim's family at the time of the alleged attacks.

LaRose has criminal convictions, including one for second-degree domestic assault that sent him to prison for more than a year in 2005, according to Chris Cline, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections. He has pleaded to misdemeanor charges of theft and marijuana possession. An order of protection also was granted in an attempt to keep him away from someone in a case categorized in court documents as "abuse and stalking."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

204 High St., Marble Hill, MO