In Maries County Associate Circuit Court on April 9, Shad Lincoln, 45, of St. James, was bound over to circuit court on three felony counts each of first-degree statutory rape and first-degree felony statutory sodomy allegedly committed against this wife’s then 13-year-old niece.

He also is charged with a misdemeanor count of furnishing pornographic material to a minor.

Lincoln was charged Feb. 18 after an investigation into allegations by the girl, identified by name in her appearance under oath in Associate Circuit Court Judge Kerry Rowden’s court. She is only being identified by the initials HR in this story since she is a victim of an alleged sexual assault.

She reported the incidents to her mother because she thought she was pregnant.

Lincoln was dressed in the Maries County Jail orange jumpsuit for his preliminary hearing and both his wrists and his ankles were in restraints. The victim’s 14th birthday was the day she took the stand to testify about the three alleged sexual incidents that occurred with Lincoln in a junk yard near her home in High Gate.

Maries County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony “Tony” Skouby called two witnesses for the state during the hearing.

Maries County Sheriff’s Det. Kenneth Kilmer testified first about the investigation he conducted during his interview with the girl and an interview he witnessed at Kids Harbor, a counseling and advocacy center for childhood sexual assault victims which serves 10 counties including Maries. He also spoke about the camera footage he obtained from a gas station in St. James where Lincoln was reported to have purchased condoms.

Throughout Kilmer’s testimony, Public Defender Matthew Crowell, who is representing Lincoln, objected frequently, saying Skouby was asking Kilmer about hearsay and there was lack of foundation with the questions.

HR took the stand and was questioned by Skouby and by Crowell. 

She testified she was frequently alone with Lincoln at a junk yard in High Gate. She helped Lincoln with scrapping metal almost every weekend and during the summer for about a year. She said she was with him at the junk yard sometimes until 2 a.m.

Occasionally Lincoln’s wife, her aunt, would stop there while HR was working at the junk yard. Sometimes her younger sister was there, too, but most of the time it was just her and Lincoln.

There were three alleged predatory, sexual incidents that happened in the junk yard in Lincoln’s truck. 

Each time, HR said, he manually stimulated her and she performed oral sex on him.

She said twice his penis touched the outside of her vagina, but did not penetrate her and he climaxed into his hand twice during one encounter. During the third incident, Lincoln was wearing a condom and penetrated her, she testified.

She testified that he showed her pornography videos on his phone from pornhub, which she was familiar with. He also gave her cigarettes and marijuana and sometimes let her drive his truck. She considered the truck driving as a type of payment for her help in the junk yard as otherwise she was not paid.

She said Lincoln let her drive his truck to Dollar General in St. James when he was looking for condoms. He then drove to a gas station for the condoms and bought them each a hamburger at Burger King in St. James.

In questioning by Crowell, HR said she knew Lincoln because he is her aunt’s husband. Occasionally when she stayed at her grandmother’s house, he was there, too. 

No predatory incidents occurred at that house.

She said Lincoln gave her cigarettes and marijuana after the first sexual incident. He was letting her drive his truck and as a kind of payment, he asked her to flash him her breasts, which she did.

This was also the first time he showed her pornography. She knew about pornography from pornhub because a friend of hers had looked at that pornography website. 

Crowell asked her if she knew what sex is and she said she was not quite sure, but she had figured it out. 

She had several interviews with law enforcement, again at Kids Harbor, and with her mom. Her mom was the first person she told because she thought she was pregnant. HR said she was familiar with Kids Harbor because of a previous incident with a cousin.

She testified that on the first time a sexual incident occurred with Lincoln, he fingered her and said, “‘Talk to me.’”

She did not tell him to stop — although it hurt the last time when he penetrated her. She did not tell anyone even though she’d been through this before and was instructed to go tell someone when something inappropriate happened to her.

HR told Crowell she did not tell anyone because she was scared. She did not know what Lincoln would do if she told someone what they were doing. He never threatened her, but he did tell her, “‘Don’t tell anyone,’” she said.

Crowell questioned her about each incident, when and where each took place, what Lincoln was wearing and the position she was in while inside the truck. At one point during an alleged encounter, they saw headlights and Lincoln got out of the truck to investigate, she told the court.

She had been on his lap with her pants down.

When he came back she asked him if it was over and he walked toward her quickly and began kissing her, saying he did not want it to be over. She said Lincoln asked her to kiss him on his penis and pushed her head down on him.

She stopped kissing him and he tried to put his penis inside her vagina, rubbing her and he climaxed two times into his hand. He asked for a water bottle and used the water to clean himself. HR said he burned the water bottle in a fire he set using gasoline. 

Law enforcement confiscated the clothing she was wearing during the third and final incident. 

HR said during the third incident she tried to push him off of her.

The first time she said Lincoln told her he could make a girl (climax) in two minutes, saying, “‘You want me, don’t you?’” and then he took control.

Crowell asked her if she continued to go to the junk yard after Lincoln did these things to her and HR said she did. Sometimes she would be there until 2 a.m., she said. He let her drive his truck and gave her cigarettes — sort of a payment for the work she did, she testified. 

She did not have a cell phone but when she thought she was pregnant, she contacted her mother using a computer, telling her Lincoln had touched her, and telling her exactly what had happened. She said her mom told her to get ready and she took her straight to the sheriff’s office in Rolla.

Crowell asked her about the presence of a wildlife camera in the junk yard and she said she knew it was there but it was not high enough to see into the truck. Also, she said Lincoln said he would erase anything it got from the first incident. 

The three incidents are alleged to have occurred between Jan. 1 and Feb. 11, 2019.

Rowden bound Lincoln’s case over to Circuit Court Judge William Hickle’s court. Lincoln’s bond remains at $100,000 and the judge said if he bonds out, he needs to appear at his next court date and not be late. He is set to appear next for a probation violation hearing. He was placed on probation for drug charges but has since allegedly broken the law

HR answered questions concisely, for the most part, and did not break down into tears or become overly-emotional. Her mother was in the courtroom, too, and did appear emotional at times as she listened to the testimony about sexual acts her daughter was subjected to during the three alleged sexual incidents with Lincoln.