Sex crimes dropped against Jefferson City man in Boone County case

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Prosecutor's Office has dropped two sex crimes against a Jefferson City man just a week before trial was set to start.

Assistant Prosecutor Olufunmike Owoso dropped a rape and sodomy charge against Aleksey Salaz on Wednesday afternoon. Owoso explained that she "partly reconsidered the strength of certain aspects of this case" in deciding to drop them. Salaz still faces a first-degree assault charge.

Owoso also asked Judge Brouck Jacobs to delay the Oct. 9 trial while discovery in the case continued. Owoso said she was still waiting for one of her witnesses to provide medical documentation and a subpoena response from the University of Missouri's Office of Institutional Equity, or Title IX Office.

Columbia police said Salaz both physically and sexually assaulted a woman he met at a Columbia bar in Feb. 2024. A probable cause statement filed in March said that the woman reported that Salaz put her in a chokehold several times at his apartment. The woman also allegedly accused Salaz of having sex with her without consent.

Owoso wrote in her motion to delay the trial that she and defense attorneys T.J. and Erin Kirsch have exchanged information on the case for the last four months. Public court entries show some depositions taking place in late August. Owoso said some of that information and her own analysis had her reconsider some of the charges Salaz faces. In turn, she asked Judge Jacobs to push back the trial date.

"As such, the State will need additional time to consider how to ethically proceed as to the remaining charge without prejudicing Defendant," Owoso wrote.

Kirsch declined to comment on the decision on Wednesday.