Columbia man charged with statutory rape, sodomy

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was charged with second-degree statutory rape and second-degree sodomy on Thursday.

Jesus Hernandez, 37, was booked into the Boone County Jail at 1:54 a.m. Thursday and is being held without bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

According to the probable cause statement, Hernandez identified himself to a youth on the dating application Grindr as “Jesse” on Dec. 28, 2022. Police were called to University Hospital on Dec. 30, 2022, about a child who was sexually assaulted.

The youth was not able to provide the exact address of Hernandez’s residence to police, but stated they met with Hernandez at the residence, court documents say. The child told police they felt uncomfortable while at the address before they were assaulted by Hernandez, the statement says. A sexual assault exam indicated multiple injuries, court documents say.

The youth had spoken about the assault with a friend after they saw Hernandez walk into Las Margaritas on Southampton Drive, where Hernandez worked, according to the statement. The victim was shown a photograph of Hernandez and was able to identify him, court documents say.

Hernandez called investigators on June 22, 2023, after learning about the investigation and allegedly admitted to having a Grindr account, but denied the sexual assault accusations or that he lived at an address identified by police, the statement says. Police used a search warrant to look through Hernandez’s Grindr account and found he sent the address to other users in order to meet them, the statement says.

Court documents claim Hernandez was using the name “Jesse” to meet other users and claimed he was 22 years old in conversations.

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