Police officer charged with enticing child for photos out on bond
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
An eastern Missouri police officer has posted bond after he was arrested this week in Cole County after investigators allege he was giving a high school boy vape cartridges with THC in them in exchange for explicit photos.
Matthew N. Skaggs of Potosi, Missouri, is charged in Washington County, Missouri, with statutory sodomy, child enticement and child endangerment. He was arrested Wednesday and taken to the Washington County Jail, the Potosi Police Department chief said in a statement.
A surety bond was posted Bondsman Jody Story for $100,000. Part of the conditions of the bond include Skaggs not having any contact with a person under the age of 17.
Skaggs, who was also a school resource officer at Potosi R-III, according to court documents, has resigned from the police department and given up his peace officer's license, the chief said.
The investigation started when a woman found vape cartridges in her son's room, and her son told her he was getting them from Skaggs in exchange for sending Skaggs explicit photos, according to a probable cause statement. The statement says the cartridges contained Delta-8 THC -- concentrated amounts of delta-8 THC are typically manufactured from hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) according to the FDA.
The boy told investigators Skaggs also touched him inappropriately during an encounter on school grounds inside Skaggs' patrol car, investigators allege. The victim also told investigators Skaggs had a similar relationship with another boy, according to the statement.
Highway patrol investigators determined a message was sent from the Best Western hotel in Jefferson City, according to the statement. Skaggs was arrested in Cole County on Wednesday, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol arrest records. He was in Jefferson City for training, court documents say.
Skaggs admitted to giving the victim vape cartridges in exchange for the photos during interrogation but denied sexual contact with the boy, the probable cause statement says.
Skaggs did not have a lawyer listed in online court records.
