Region/state digest 06/16/06

Hutson auction slated for Saturday

The 19th annual Charles L. Hutson Auction will be at 7 p.m. Saturday at Buckner Brewing Co. Those interested may call 334-8085. The auction will benefit Old Town Cape.

Cape police investigate statutory rape claim

The mother of a pregnant 16-year-old reported her child's relationship with a man nearly twice her age to Cape Girardeau authorities this week. Police received the woman's complaint Wednesday and were investigating allegations of statutory rape, according to police spokesman Jason Selzer. Even though the girl, who is three months' pregnant, claimed the sex with her 29-year-old boyfriend was consensual, that does not matter, Selzer said. "She can't consent until she is 17," he said. The teen also claimed her mother knew of the pregnancy. Police have yet to interview the suspect, who is apparently the father of the girl's child, according to Selzer. He did not know how long the relationship between the girl and the man was.

Blunt calls to make mental facilities safer

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt has called for a plan to improve protection and oversight in state mental health facilities. Blunt called for the departments of Mental Health, Health and Senior Services, Social Services and Public Safety to create a method for conducting joint investigations of resident deaths and to develop a long-term plan ensuring that all allegations of abuse and neglect are properly investigated. Blunt tapped Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau and Ron Dittemore, interim director for the Department of Mental Health, to oversee the effort. In a written statement, Blunt said the joint effort would help protect residents living in mental health facilities. The announcement comes shortly after a series of articles published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch detailing numerous deaths and injuries at state mental health facilities -- many of which were never investigated. Spokeswoman Jessica Robinson said the effort was in response to several residents' deaths in state mental health facilities, not the newspaper's reports.

-- From staff, wire reports