Audrain County man charged with multiple child sex crimes

MEXICO, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Mexico, Missouri, man was charged with several child sex crimes on Thursday.

Rodney Joe Botz, born in 1962, was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of fourth-degree child molestation. He is being held at the Audrain County Jail without bond. A confined docket hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Audrain County Courthouse.

The probable cause statement says one of the victims said Botz was intoxicated while the victims were with friends in what was described in other court documents as as an eighth-grade graduation party. Botz allegedly sexually assaulted multiple girls and witnesses were able to describe it to law enforcement, the statement says.

Witnesses allegedly said Botz was yelling at them, touching them and refused to leave when asked multiple times, according to court documents.  

“The children at the party tried to get away from the defendant and asked him to leave multiple times, but he continued to follow and harass them. He was so intoxicated he told the police he didn’t remember anything, and it’s clear from his history that alcohol has been a problem for him,” according to court documents.

Court documents indicate he was accused of DWI in at least three instances in Missouri and Illinois.