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Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper faces multiple felony charges in Scott, New Madrid counties
SIKESTON — A Missouri State Highway Patrol officer faces six felony charges of invasion of privacy in New Madrid and Scott Counties.
David Lee McKnight, 39, of Sikeston is charged with with a total of six counts of felony invasion of privacy — five in Scott County and one in New Madrid County, according to online court records.
According to the Scott and New Madrid County probably cause statements by Cpl. Dustin Reed with the Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control, on July 30, an adult female contacted the Missouri State Highway Patrol and made a complaint that during a traffic stop, the trooper who stopped her had searched through the photos and Snapchat applications on her cell phone without her consent. She said the trooper took her cell phone to his patrol car under the pretense of viewing her digital insurance card. She provided a screenshot of cell phone’s screen usage data which showed both apps had been accessed; however, there is no way to show who accessed them, Reed said in his probable cause statement. The female said she did not access these apps during this time and the only other person to have access to her phone was the trooper, who was identified through the investigation as McKnight.
As part of the investigation, some of McKnight’s in-car and body-worn camera videos, which are Patrol-issued equipment, were reviewed, according to Reed. In-car and body-worn videos were located which led to probable cause to believe McKnight was using his personal cell phone to take pictures and/or videos of the cell phones of people he came into contact with as a peace officer under false pretense and without authorization or permission. On Aug. 19, a search warrant was issued by the Scott County Circuit Court to search McKnight’s home and seize his cell phone.
During a forensic examination of McKnight’s personal cell phone, copies of deleted images were recovered, Reed said in his probable cause statement. The images were consistant with McKnight using his personal cell phone to take pictures of other people’s cell phone screen.
According to the probable cause statement, the trooper allegedly captured images of those phones that included women partially or fully nude. Six adult female victims were interviewed by Reed during the investigation. The alleged incidents happened between September 2023 through April 2024.
On Wednesday, Aug. 21, McKnight was contacted by investigators and he declined to be interviewed about the investigation, the probable cause said.
According to the Patrol’s arrest reports, McKnight was arrested at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21 in Scott County.
McKnight is scheduled to be arraigned at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27 before Judge T. Lynn Brown in Scott County. Bond for the Scott County charges was set at $5,000 cash or surety.
An arraignment on the New Madrid County charge is set for 9 a.m. Sept. 19 before Judge Brandon M. Sanchez in New Madrid County. His bond on the New Madrid County charge was set at $10,000 cash or surety.