Scott City man faces sex charges

A Scott City man was charged on Friday with five felony counts of sexual offenses with a child under 14 years old.

James A. Edger, 19, faces two felony counts of first-degree statutory rape, two felony counts of child molestation and one felony count of incest.

He is being held on a $200,000 bond at the Scott City jail and will be transferred to the Scott County jail, said Scott City police chief Don Cobb. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison for each count of child molestation and up to four years in prison for incest.

One of the alleged incidents occurred months ago and the second occurred a few days ago, Cobb said. A relative called the Scott City Police Department on Thursday. Edger was arrested Friday morning, while he was running behind residences on West Mar-Elm Street. He had fled his apartment shortly before the officers arrived, police said.