SW Mo. deputy plans to plead not guilty on sex abuse counts

PINEVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- A southwest Missouri sheriff's deputy who made headlines last year by helping find the body of a missing child plans to plead not guilty to unrelated charges of having sex with a 14-year-old girl, his lawyer says.

Charles R. Rhoades, the attorney for McDonald County Deputy Jacob Boles, declined further comment Wednesday on the case. Boles' first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday in McDonald County Circuit Court.

Boles, 27, has been suspended without pay since, said Chief Deputy Greg Sweeten with the McDonald County Sheriff Department. Boles has been with the force since about 1999, said Sweeten, who declined further comment.

Boles is charged with two counts of second-degree statutory sodomy for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl. He is free on $25,000 bond. A phone number listed for Boles was no longer in service.

Last November, Boles was one of two deputies who helped find the body of 9-year-old Rowan Ford in a cave. Rowan's stepfather and another man are charged with her rape and murder.

A McDonald County grand jury indicted Boles last week after an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

McDonald County prosecutor Janice Durbin said the Highway Patrol got involved to avoid a conflict of interest.

Durbin said the investigation started with a late January call to the statewide child abuse hot line run by the Children's Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services. The state agency asked the patrol to investigate. Hot line calls are confidential and the state does not make public the identity of callers or other information.

The indictment alleges that Boles had "deviate sexual intercourse" with the unnamed girl on two occasions, Dec. 11 and Jan. 21.

Durbin said she was not aware of any connection between the charges and Boles' role in finding Rowan's body after a weeklong search in three counties.

Durbin said she could not comment further on the case.

Boles was one of two MacDonald County deputies who looked for Rowan into a hard-to-find cave after an indirect tip from Rowan's stepfather, David Spears.

Spears, 24, had become a suspect early in the investigation of Rowan's disappearance, and investigators have said he mentioned several times to Newton County Coroner Greg Bridges that the cave might be used to hide a body.

Spears and a friend, Chris Collings, 32, of Wheaton, were arrested after the girl's body was recovered. They are charged with sexually assaulting and killing her. A judge entered not guilty pleas for both.

Boles lives about half of a mile from the forested property where Rowan's body was found.

Boles told The Joplin Globe after the find that he had been in the cave several times in his youth. He said he had learned from an FBI investigator that the hole was one of several locations searchers needed to check, and he decided to look there with the other deputy on their way to work.

Boles said he lowered himself partially into the hole and, using a flashlight, spotted the girl's body below on the floor of the cavern.