Man charged in sex case involving 10-year-old child

Dakota Metz, 21, of Carrolton, Mississippi, has been charged with two counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree in connection with alleged sexual acts involving a 10-year-old child between Sept. 6, 2015, and May 29, 2016, when Metz was 19.
Associate Circuit Judge Cynthia MacPherson set a $2,000 cash-only bond in the case when it was filed here last week. A spokesperson from the Ozark County Jail told the Times that after Metz was arrested Monday in Howell County, he immediately posted the required bond and was released from custody the same day.
Metz is represented by defense attorney Jacob Garrett. An initial arraignment was scheduled for Jan. 9; however, Garrett filed a motion for continuance, which was granted, and Metz is now scheduled to make his first court appearance at 9 a.m. Jan. 23.
According to the probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Chief Deputy Winston Collins, officers received information from the Howell County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 13 about a sexual sodomy investigation. Torey Thompson, an investigator with the Howell County Sheriff’s Office, reached out to Ozark County officers after determining that the alleged sexual acts were said to have been performed at an Ozark County residence in Caulfield, the statement says.
Thompson interviewed the alleged victim at the Howell County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 16, 2017, after the officer was told that Metz and the young victim had engaged in sexual acts that the child said had occurred  two to four years earlier at a family member’s residence in Caulfield. When the parents learned from the child that the alleged sexual acts had occurred, they reported the allegations to the police.
In the interview with Thompson, the child reportedly said Metz asked the child to come into an upstairs bedroom to engage in oral sex. The child was scared of Metz and complied with what Metz asked, the statement says. The child told the officer that afterward, Metz said not to tell anyone.
Collins contacted the child’s mother and informed her that the investigation would be continued in Ozark County. The mother reportedly told Ozark County Sheriff’s Cpl. Curtis Dobbs that her child, who has a form of high-functioning autism, disclosed that the alleged acts happened around the same time a family photo was taken after the child’s family had bought a horse. The horse was purchased on Sept. 6, 2015, and the photograph was taken May 29, 2016, providing  the officer with an approximate timeframe for when the alleged acts occurred. During that time span, the child was 10 years old and Metz was 19, the statement says.
At 11 p.m. Dec. 31, Collins and Dobbs met Metz at his grandparents’ residence at a New Year’s Eve family gathering and asked him to accompany them to the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department. Metz agreed, and during questioning at the sheriff’s office, he reportedly admitted to several instances of oral sex and sexual touching with the child. The statement says Metz said the first incident occurred two or three years ago at his grandparents’ house. Metz reportedly detailed at least two occasions when sexual acts occurred.