Jefferson City man charged with child sex crime, kidnapping

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man was charged with a child sex crime and other felonies on Thursday.

Jermaine Brannon was charged with first-degree kidnapping, third-degree domestic assault and child enticement by a person older than 21 years old with a child younger than 15 years old. He is being held at the Cole County Jail without bond. A court date has not been set.

According to the probable cause statement, a victim spoke with the Cole County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday about a child being sexually assaulted by Brannon. The victim was allegedly contacted by one of Brannon’s family members, who showed text messages of the child describing a sexual assault by Brannon, the statement says.

In addition, there were two phone recordings where Brannon and the child victim could be heard during a sexual assault, court documents describe. A text message allegedly indicated that Brannon begged the child to not tell anyone about the assault.

After the person who spoke with law enforcement left the sheriff’s office, that person had met with Brannon, court documents say. Brannon then allegedly told the child and person who spoke with law enforcement to leave with him and threatened to assault the two if they didn’t.