Arraignment held for Pulaski County man accused of raping teenager

PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Pulaski County man accused of raping a teenager in December had an arraignment on Friday.

Michael Holmes, 42, of Devils Elbow, was charged on Thursday with first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and fourth-degree child molestation. An arraignment was held Friday and a warrant was served to Holmes. A $250,000 bond was set. A bond hearing was set for Tuesday and a preliminary hearing will take place at 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 26.

According to the probable cause statement, a child was interviewed at Kids’ Harbor in St. Robert on Jan. 11. The girl told had told law the interviewer that she was sexually assaulted on Dec. 18. She had allegedly said she snuck out of her residence, which she stated she did whenever she was bored or stressed, and walked to the woods to listen to music.

The area she went to was next to Road Ranger, a truck stop in St. Robert. She then allegedly walked to to the truck stop and claimed Holmes started talking to her, the probable cause statement says. The child is known to go to the truck stop, according to a witness identified in the statement.

The witness had apparently walked up to Holmes and told him the girl was 15 years old. Holmes had allegedly said, “You’re 15? You’re developed,” to the victim, court documents say. Holmes had apparently asked the victim if she wanted to go into the woods to smoke marijuana and the girl told the interviewer that she went with him and was then sexually assaulted.

Law enforcement reviewed video footage from the truck stop and allegedly saw Holmes speak with the victim on Dec. 17. The video allegedly shows the victim leave the truck stop and go towards the woods, with Holmes following, court documents say.