Man indicted by grand jury, alleged to have molested girl between 2008 to 2015

Jeremiah Kowerduck, 34, of Springfield, is being held in the Ozark County Jail without bond after an Ozark County grand jury indicted him on charges of statutory sodomy and first-degree child molestation of a child younger than 12 on May 18. He was arrested in Springfield without incident on May 25 and has been held in jail ever since. 

According to the probable cause statement prepared by Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin, the sheriff was approached by a woman on March 10 this year while he was at the Gainesville Subway restaurant. The woman reportedly said that she’d like to discuss sexual abuse allegations involving her daughter and Kowerduck. 

Through the investigation and information gathering procedure, the sheriff found that an interviewer at the Springfield Child Advocacy Center spoke with the girl about the allegations on Feb. 14, 2018. The girl reportedly told the investigator at that time that on a weekly basis Kowerduck entered her room, undressed her and sexually touched her and made her sexually touch him while he looked at sexual videos on his phone. 

The girl reportedly said the abuse continued until she was about 10 years old, she thought. 

The complaint in the case indicates the acts were alleged to have occurred sometime between 2008 and 2015.

Kowerduck is being represented by Public Defender Kate Welborn. He’s scheduled to appear before Circuit Judge Craig Carter at 9 a.m. June 8.