Perryville teen pleads not guilty to statutory rape, molestation

A Perryville, Mo., teenager pleaded not guilty to first-degree statutory rape and second-degree child molestation last week in St. Francois County Circuit Court.

In addition to the St. Francois County charges, Austin Luye, 18, has been charged with seven counts of first-degree statutory rape and two counts of child molestation in Perry County.

Trial setting in the St. Francois County case is scheduled for July 3.

Court records show Luye is accused of using Facebook to contact girls younger than 14, meeting them in a public location, and then convincing them to go somewhere more secluded -- usually his home -- to have sex.

If convicted, Luye faces five years to life in prison on each statutory rape charge because the victims were younger than 14.

Luye was in custody at the St. Francois County Jail in Farmington, Mo., on $110,000 cash-only bond in March. After he answers the St. Francois County charges, he will be taken to Perryville to face charges there.

Police affidavits accuse Luye of having multiple encounters with at least five girls in Perry County and one in Farmington between September 2012 and January 2013.

Luye was 17 when most of the encounters are alleged to have taken place.

The case came to light in January, when two girls in Perry County were caught arguing about an older male named Austin with whom they were involved.

A school administrator gathered information about a 17- to 18-year-old boy who was communicating with middle-school-age girls, some of whom acknowledged they had sex with him, court records show.

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Pertinent address:

Farmington, Mo.