Metz sentenced on sex charges involving child during Law Day


Dakota Metz

Dakota Metz, 22, of Carrolton, Mississippi, was given a suspended imposition of sentence and placed on supervised probation for a term of five years before Circuit Judge Craig Carter during the April 3 session of Ozark County Law Day.  The sentence came after Metz pleaded guilty to two counts of statuary sodomy with a person less than 14 years old.

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, 2018, in reference to 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 acts were said to have been performed at an Ozark County residence in Caulfield, the statement says. 

Thompson interviewed the alleged victim, a confidential informant, at the Howell County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 16, 2017, after the officer was told that Metz and the young victim, who is described as Metz family relative, engaged in oral sex. The acts, which the victim said occurred two to four years ago at a family member’s residence in Caulfield, were disclosed by the child to the child’s parents, the statement says. The parents then called the police to report the allegations.

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 did what Metz asked because the child was scared of him, the statement says. Afterward, the child told the officer that Metz said not to tell anyone. 

Collins contacted the child’s mother and informed her that he would be resuming the investigation in Ozark County that Thompson initially opened. The mother reportedly told Ozark County officers that her child, who has a form of high-functioning autism, disclosed that the alleged acts happened around the same time that two family events had occurred between Sept. 6, 2015, and May 29, 2016. The dates helped the officer  develop an approximate timeframe for when the alleged acts occurred. During that timeframe the child was 10 years old and Metz was 19, the statement says. 

When interviewed by officers Collins and Cpl. Curtis Dobbs at the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 31, 2018, Metz reportedly made several admissions of oral sex and sexual touching with the child. The statement says Metz said the first incident occurred two or three years ago at a family member’s house. Metz reportedly detailed at least two occasions in which sexual acts occurred. 

Ozark County Times

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