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Probable cause statement alleges rape suspect had sex with passed out teen

Boone County Sheriff’s Deputies have arrested a man on suspicion of second-degree statutory rape for allegedly touching a teenager inappropriately and having sex with her while she was intoxicated and passed out.

Detective Tom O’Sullivan with the Boone County Sheriff’s Department tells ABC 17 News his office received a report from the Columbia Police Department in August alleging Joshua E. Coates had sexual contact with a 9-year-old girl.

A probable cause statement alleges Coates inappropriately touched the 9-year-old in June 2016 while the two were riding in a car in Boone County.

During the course of the aforementioned investigation, the Boone County Sheriff’s department learned of another victim.

According to a probable cause statement, the victim says Coates “touched her vagina two or three times while she slept at the suspect’s residence on Hinshaw Court” back in 2014.

Then, in the summer of 2015, Coates and the victim were at Motel 6 in Columbia, where Coates allegedly raped the victim.

The victim told Boone County Deputies she did not remember having sex with Coates, but a witness at the Motel 6 told her that Coates raped her while she was drunk and passed out.

Coates was charged in December with second-degree statutory rape and second-degree child molestation for the first incident. He was also charged in September with child molestation in the first degree for the incident with the 9-year-old. He is currently being held in the Boone County Jail on a $50,000 cash only bond.

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