Columbia police arrest man accused of statutory rape

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia police arrested a man early Thursday morning who is accused of a 2020 statutory rape.

Police department spokesman Jeff Pitts said in an email that 20-year-old John Pernell Stapleton III was arrested just after midnight in the 2000 block of Whispering Meadows Court.

Pitts included in the email a mother reported that her child ran away from a Cherokee Lane residence on Feb. 19, 2020. Investigators later learned Stapleton was suspected of sexual assault in the case, Pitts said.

Court records say Stapleton was charged with a count of statutory rape or attempted statutory rape of a person younger than 14 on Sept. 3, 2020. A warrant for his arrest was filed on the same day.

Stapleton's bond was set at $100,000. Boone County Jail records said he was still in custody, as of Thursday morning.

If he posts the bail, Stapleton is required not to have any contact with the alleged victim or anyone under the age of 17.