Audrain County man charged with child sex crimes

MEXICO, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Mexico, Missouri, man was charged with a pair of child sex crimes on Friday.

Nickolas Gage Crum – whose birth year is listed as 2005 – was charged with first-degree statutory rape and statutory sodomy of a person younger than 14 years old. He is being held at the Audrain County Jail without bond. A confined docket hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Audrain County Courthouse.

According to the probable cause statement, the victim told police during a Jan. 27 forensic interview that she was sexually assaulted multiple times by Crum. The statement says the victim never gave consent to Crum.

Law enforcement viewed the victim’s phone, which allegedly showed multiple conversations where the victim “was discussing being in a relationship with Crum,” the statement says. Crum allegedly told law enforcement that the victim gave consent and that he believed they were 16.

According to a filing by Audrain County Prosecutor Jacob Shellabarger, Crum allegedly told the victim that he was 15 years old, and allegedly had “an electronic file about ‘how to beat the case,’ and bragged to others about how he could be innocent ‘even with a public defender.’”