Man faces multiple rape, sexual assault charges

Victim assaulted over several years

BENTON -- A Sikeston man is being held on charges of raping and sexually assaulting a child over several years.

Antonio Rodriguez, 63, is charged with five counts of forcible rape, 15 counts of statutory rape, 10 counts of statutory sodomy, five counts of child molestation and two counts of sexual assault, according to Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the victim reported the assaults, which occurred over the past seven years, to her minister. The minister and the victim then informed her mother and the police.

The victim told Detective John A. Blakely of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety that Rodriguez began assaulting her when she was approximately 10 or 11 years old.

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