Columbia man jailed on suspicion of child sex crimes
UPDATE 11:26 p.m.: Boone County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Merilee Crockett has charged James Patterson with a count of felony possession of child pornography and a felony count of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Patterson is expected to appear in Boone County court at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9 for a case review.
UPDATE 6 p.m.: James Patterson is facing charges of possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a minor.
According to the probable cause statement ABC 17 News obtained, Columbia police received a report by a third-party of a 17-year-old girl who was allegedly the subject of child pornography March 2016.
According to the report, the victim was 16 at the time of the alleged incident.
The girl originally denied the claim. According to the statement, the girl’s mother asked police to interview her daughter again.
The alleged victim then told police in April, that she became friends with Patterson through a hula-hoop club. Patterson told her that he was a photographer and owned his own business, FotoVet Photography.
She also told police that she had been to Patterson’s house. She said they watched a movie and then he pierced a part of her body.
She told police that Patterson loaned her money and said that Patterson told her she didn’t have to pay him back if she “made it good.” She said they never had sex.
The alleged victim then told police that in January of 2016, Patterson picked her up from school and took her to a hotel near T.G.I. Friday’s.
She said at the hotel, Patterson took several nude photographs of her, and afterward asked her to have sex. She told police that she did not have sex with him.
Patterson uploaded some of the photos onto the alleged victim’s laptop the next day, according to the statement.
Police said they examined the laptop and found 104 photos of the victim, at various stages of her getting undressed. They said that all photos had a FotoVet Photography copyright.
Patterson’s bond is set at $100,000 cash only, and he is not allowed to talk with anyone under the age of 18.
According to online records, Patterson has been convicted of domestic abuse three times.
ORIGINAL: ABC 17 News is working to find out more after finding a man is jailed on suspicion of child sex crimes.
Jail records show police arrested 34-year-old James Patterson yesterday. He was booked in jail around 8 p.m. Tuesday.
He’s accused of having child porn, sexual exploitation and statutory rape.
Patterson remained in the Boone County jail Wednesday morning.
ABC 17 News has asked police for additional details on his arrest and we’re still waiting to hear back. We’ll update this story as we find out more.
