Police charge Perryville man with statutory rape of two underage girls

Two teenage girls said a Perryville, Missouri, man picked them up in Illinois on May 11 and then sexually assaulted later that night.

Jesse R. Deere, 26, was arrested Friday and charged with two counts of second-degree statutory rape.

His bond was set at $10,000 cash or surety.

About 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Perryville police found a missing 14-year-old girl from Monroe County, Illinois, in Deere’s home in the 400 block of North Pine Street, according to a probable-cause statement filed by Perryville Police Detective Teresa Cox.

A 15-year-old girl, also from Illinois, was found at the address.

The girls told Cox that Deere picked them up about 11 p.m. Wednesday.

They socialized in Deere’s bedroom in the basement, but Deere later forced himself on the girls, who were next to each other on the bed, according to the report. The 14-year-old girl told Deere to stop, but he continued. The 15-year-old said she tried to push Deere off of her, at which time he grabbed her hands and held them above her head, Cox wrote.

The two girls said they stayed at Deere’s house because they had nowhere else to go and no means to get anywhere, Cox wrote.

Police talked to Deere at 10 a.m. Friday. He said he picked up the 15-year-old girl first, and she said a friend wanted to join them, according to Cox’s report. Deere said the three of them sang and danced before he went to bed.

At some point, the 15-year-old made sexual advances on him, Deere said. He said he told her “no” multiple times because she was 15, according to the statement. Deere admitted having sex with the 14-year-old, however, because he said he thought she was 17, Cox wrote.

When Deere first began talking to Cox, he said he thought he was in trouble because he had two minors at his house who did not have permission to be there, Cox wrote.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: 400 block of North Pine Street, Perryville, Mo.