Region briefs 5/31/06

Two men plead guilty in unrelated incidents

Two Scott City men pleaded guilty last week in court to sodomy and sexual assault in unrelated incidents. Dr. Sean de Jager, 57, an optometrist, entered a guilty plea Friday to two counts of second-degree felony statutory sodomy, after being accused of sodomizing a 16-year-old boy. The victim alleged the two had an extended sexual relationship between June and November, with as many as 50 incidents, some of which the boy claimed to have been paid for. In a separate case, James A. Edger, 19, pleaded guilty Friday to felony sexual assault. The alleged incidents occurred between mid-2005 and October. Both men entered their guilty pleas before Circuit Judge David Dolan, who is scheduled to sentence Edger July 13 and de Jager July 27, according to court records.

Police arrest man over holiday weekend

Cape Girardeau police arrested a shotgun-wielding man over the holiday weekend. The 30-year-old man, who lived on the 100 block of South Benton Street, called the home of two women who lived two doors down shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday. A man claiming to be a boyfriend of one of the women answered the phone and threatened to beat up the caller, police spokesman Jason Selzer said. When the boyfriend came to the man's home, the man waived a shotgun around, but not shots were fired and no one was injured, Selzer said. The man with the shotgun was arrested for unlawful use of a weapon but had not been charged as of Tuesday afternoon.

-- From Staff reports