Unlicensed daycare operator accused of abusing children in Morgan County

VERSAILLES, Mo. (KMIZ)

Investigators say a man operating an unlicensed daycare in Gravois Mills abused children and threatened one at gunpoint.

Leland R. Bryan, 61, was charged last week with four counts of statutory sodomy, one count of unlawful use of a weapon and a count of armed criminal action. He was being held Monday in the Morgan County Jail without bond.

Court documents allege Bryan sexually abused two children he cared for at his home on 9300 block of Mill Creek Road.

In the documents, it says that one of victims told investigators that Bryan told her if she told anyone about the incidents he would kill her and her entire family.

This isn't the first time he is facing charges involving children. According to the documents, he was convicted in Arizona in 1988 of cruelty toward a child.

Residents in the small town of Gravois say they aren't shocked at what Bryan is accused of. They say there have been rumors about him for the past five years and they always saw him children under the age of ten.

Bryan would live in a shack in the woods on and off, Gravois residents say, and the home he allegedly ran the daycare in for six years wasn't even his and belongs to a woman by the name of Granny.

State law allows childcare providers to operate without a license if they're caring for six or fewer children. The Morgan County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post that Bryan had been operating the daycare for about six years.

The sheriff's department and county prosecutor declined to comment Monday.

Bryan is scheduled to appear for an arraignment Tuesday in Versailles. He did not have a lawyer listed in online court records.