Cape Girardeau man charged with child molestation

Cape Girardeau police arrested Brandon C. Gregory, 20, on a charge of child molestation Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the 3-year-old victim told her mother Gregory had touched her inappropriately while they were watching television, according to a probable-cause statement written and signed by Paul Zajicek of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

Her mother questioned the child further, and, alarmed, decided to notify the police.

The victim also informed another party of the alleged abuse, the sworn statement said.

Missouri law defines child molestation as sexual contact with a child younger than 14.

A majority of arrests made in child molestation cases involve alleged offenders that are known to the child victim, said Tammy Gwaltney, director of the Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence.

"It's most often that scenario," Gwaltney said.

Child molestation can often, and usually does, occur relatively quickly, and frequently takes place when there are other people nearby, Gwaltney said.

"It doesn't have to be in some hidden away, isolated location," she said.

Gwaltney warned that an offender frequently is someone who is most likely the only person giving advice to the child on how to react to the situation, and will instruct them to be quiet, which is why speaking openly about abuse with children is so important.

Less than 1 percent of all of the Network's cases, which average about 600 per year, involve a stranger perpetrating on the child, Gwaltney said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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