Missouri man faces sex abuse charges after girl reported missing in Granite City
A 22-year-old Missouri man was arrested and now faces sex abuse and grooming charges in Madison County after the Granite City Police Department received a report of a missing 16-year-old girl, according to court records and police.
The juvenile was found in California, Missouri, where the suspect was arrested, and has been reunited with family members, according to a news release Thursday from the Granite City Police Department.
Naraeysh Bass-Ocasio of California, Missouri, faces the following charges filed Wednesday by the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office: Three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, three counts of traveling to meet a child and one count of grooming.
The Granite City Police Department received a report of a missing juvenile on Monday and on Tuesday investigators were able to “identify a suspect involved in the juvenile’s disappearance and their possible location,” the news release stated.
Granite City officers then contacted officers in Missouri to ask for assistance.
The charging documents allege the first sexual abuse occurred in February, the second incident was in June and that the third was on Monday. The grooming charge alleges Bass-Ocasio used “a computer on-line service, Internet service, or any other device capable of electronic date storage or transmission to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child” from December 2022 until Tuesday.
Bass-Ocasio was being held at the Moniteau County Sheriff’s Department pending $500,000 bond or extradition to the Madison County Jail.
Online court records in Madison County and Moniteau County did not list a defense attorney for Bass-Ocasio.
No other information was released by the Granite City Police Department.
