Judge denies bond request in child rape, sex abuse case

A dozen victims, family and friends were in the courtroom last Friday afternoon, Feb. 20, to comfort and support each other as alleged child rapist Eddie Britt appeared for a bond reduction hearing. After initially taking the request under advisement in court, Associate Court Judge Raymond Gross denied the bond request. Britt continues to be held without bond.

Dressed in “civilian clothing” rather than the common orange jumpsuit of typical Ozark County Jail inmates, Britt appeared with public defender Chase Opolka, charged with rape of a child (younger than 14), forcible sodomy, statutory sodomy and incest, for alleged crimes dating back to the early 1990s. 

According to the Feb. 19 docket entry on Missouri online court document system, Case.net, Britt was allowed to appear in civilian clothing after Springfield TV news station KY3 requested to be allowed to have a video camera, microphones and a still camera in the courtroom during any of his court appearances. However, no KY3 representatives were in the courtroom on Friday.

Opolka asked that the judge set a bond for his client that was not excessively high. “My client has no criminal history,” Opolka told the judge. “He has a license and a vehicle. He’s been living [in Ozark County] for the past four or five months.”

According to Opolka, Britt doesn’t have a regular job but does odd jobs because he is on Social Security Disability Insurance due to a work accident in 2025 that required extensive surgery on his right shoulder. The attorney also said Britt was diagnosed with and is on medication for congestive heart failure. Opolka told the judge that his client is on several other medications and is actually missing a full bottle of nitroglycerin which is used for heart angina, heart attacks and congestive heart failure.

Opolka also argued that staying in jail would create a significant financial hardship. “My client is 71,” said Opolka. “In most cases, [SSDI] usually shuts off after 30 days in jail, but that is his primary source of income.

“I don’t believe my client is a danger to the community or a flight risk. He was in the process of buying land in Majestic Cove [in Ozark County] and ordered a prebuilt home to be delivered [soon]. I would ask that the court consider releasing my client [on his own recognizance],” continued Opolka. “We have discussed house arrest and what that would entail.”

Opolka went on to say he felt that was the best option because of Britt’s health problems.

Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney Lee Pipkins opposed the bond request because of serious nature of the filed charges, Britt’s relatively recent relocation to Ozark County and alleged statements Britt made to the victims.

“The victims and family members are here today,” said Pipkins. “They have concerns about his release because in the past, he’s made threats to kill them or himself.”

Judge Gross asked if any of the victims wanted to say anything, explaining that in Missouri, victims have the right to speak during a bond hearing.

The victims in the audience hesitated briefly before one of the victims spoke. 

“I just don’t want to think about him being out there,” she said. “He’s been running from this for the past 35 years. Being an elderly man is no excuse for the harm he’s done.”

A second victim then spoke saying that she has small children, and she is afraid for their safety.

Opolka spoke again for Britt, asking the court to take into consideration that though Britt has moved around a lot in the past 35 years, he does live in Ozark County now. “I also want to remind of the presumption of innocent until proven guilty.”

Gross told those in attendance that he would consider everything that was said and would make his decision within 24 hours. Later that afternoon, Gross announced denial of bond because of the seriousness of the accusations, Britt being unemployed and only recently moving to Ozark County, and the concerns of the victims.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, April 9 in Ozark County Associate Court.

The rape charge is an unclassified felony. There are no specific mandatory minimum or maximum prison sentences for an unclassified felony. According to the Revised Statutes of Missouri, punishments for unclassified felonies often carry strict, long-term sentences structured specifically to the crime rather than general guidelines for Class A-E felonies. 

The forcible sodomy charge is a Class A felony which carries a punishment of 10 years to life imprisonment. The statutory sodomy charge is a Class C felony, carrying a punishment of 3-10 years in prison. The incest charge is a Class D felony, carrying a punishment of up to 7 years in prison.

According to the probable cause statement, prepared by MSHP Cpl. Dakota Nash, the officer was contacted by Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin on Sept. 16, 2025, about a conversation he had with a woman who reported that Edward Britt had sexually abused her and her cousins when they were children. 

That woman, identified as victim #2 in the document, told Nash that when she was 9 years old (in 1991), she lived with Britt and his wife, who was her biological aunt, at their Gainesville home. 

She said there were five children living at the home at the time. In addition to herself, other children residing in the home included her cousin, identified as victim #1 in the document; Britt’s oldest biological daughter, identified as victim #4 in the report; and two sons Britt and his wife adopted (one identified as victim #3 in the report).

Britt reportedly legally adopted victim #1 as his daughter, which made him victim #1’s father. All of the named victims are now grown adults in their 40s. Victim #2 told Nash that she and victim #1 are related, as their moms are the sister of Britt’s now ex-wife (who is their biological aunt and Britt’s wife in the 1990s).

During the interview with victim #2, Nash was told that the girls endured rape and sexual abuse from the time they were children, and Britt’s adoptive daughter was impregnated when she was 15 years old with his child. The cousin said in July 2000, at age 16, the girl gave birth to Britt’s baby at a local hospital, and her family told everyone in the community that the father of the baby was an over-the-road trucker.

Victim #2 said Britt was aware that she knew the truth - that he was the father of her teenage cousin’s child - because of what she had witnessed over the years. She said he threatened to kill her if she told anyone. She said she reported the abuse at least three times from 1991-94; however, she said nothing was done about it. 

In 2003, three years after victim #1 reportedly gave birth to Britt’s baby, Britt divorced his wife and moved to Mountain Home, Arkansas, with his adopted daughter and their biological baby. Five years after that, Britt married his adoptive daughter. A marriage license presented to Nash showed that Britt and the woman were married in Faulkner County, Arkansas, in 2008.

On Feb. 3 of this year, Nash applied for search warrants for the DNA of Britt and victim #1 (his adoptive daughter/wife) through a mouth swab. A judge granted those warrants, and Nash executed them the next day, obtaining the DNA samples from both the man and woman. 

Nash said the woman told him that she never said anything to anyone because Britt would get mad, and she was scared of him. She said since that time, Britt had fathered a total of seven of her children, and none of the children knew the truth about their parents’ past. The woman said that Britt had controlled and manipulated her for her entire life. 

On Feb. 5, around 1:15 p.m., the woman called Nash at his office. She told the officer that Britt started sexually abusing her when she was 10 years old, and that there used to be videos of the abuse. She said another minor child [identified as victim #3] was also involved, and Britt made the other victim have sex with her, filming it several times when she was approximately 10-13 years old. She said Edward also continued having sex with her, eventually getting her pregnant when she was 15 years old.

Nash indicated that Britt, his wife and their children have lived in several states including Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. 

“Victim #1 stated this was due to Edward not wanting to get caught by the law, so he could keep her to have sex with. [She] said everywhere they went, children’s division and law enforcement were questioning their relationship and their children,” Nash wrote. 

Although there are four victims listed in the probable cause statement and decades of alleged abuse, the complaint form filed in the case indicates that the charges are directly related to rape and other sexual abuse of victim #1 that occurred on Sept. 3, 1999, and July 17, 1999, indicating that evidence and testimony will likely support those specific instances, although the entirety of the allegations may be mentioned in court.

Darron Bolton

In a shockingly similar case, Sycamore resident Darron Bolton, 43, appeared before Judge Gross for a preliminary hearing. Bolton is charged with statutory sodomy or attempted statutory sodomy - deviate sexual intercourse - with a person less than 14 years old. He is also represented by Opolka.

Opolka objected to the scheduled preliminary hearing because he had only received some of the discovery early Friday morning.

Pipkins told the court that he had only been able to send the information to Opolka that morning, but the information did not contain information that would affect the hearing. He also said the victim, a witness and three officers were present in an adjoining room to give testimony in the preliminary hearing.

Gross asked if the people in attendance for the hearing would be giving any new information that the defense had not heard. When Opolka and Pipkins both said no, Gross overruled Opolka’s objection to the preliminary hearing.

Bolton then waived the preliminary hearing and the case was moved to Ozark County Circuit Court. Arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 4.

Opolka then argued for his client’s release from custody in the Ozark County Jail. “My client has no prior [criminal history],” Opolka said. “He is not a danger to the community or a flight risk. The only issue is the proposed home plan.”

According to Opolka, the proposed home plan for Bolton depends on a friend who lives in another county. However, no one has been able to contact this friend, and it is unlikely they can be reached until Bolton is released.

“That is not a compelling argument,” Gross told Opolka. “I can’t in good conscience release him on some hope. . . I’m not releasing him on a whim, hope, and a prayer.”

The charge for Bolton is an unclassified felony. There are no specific mandatory minimum or maximum prison sentences for an unclassified felony. According to the Revised Statutes of Missouri, punishments for unclassified felonies often carry strict, long-term sentences structured specifically to the crime rather than general guidelines for Class A-E felonies.

According to the probable cause statement filed in the case by Ozark County Deputy Josh Sherman, on Dec. 21, 2025, a witness reported that Bolton had engaged in ongoing sexual abuse of a juvenile victim over the last several years beginning when the girl was approximately 13 years old and continuing until she was 15 or 16. 

The witness reportedly told the officers that Barton had personally told her about the abuse, saying that he’d been having an intimate and physical relationship with the young teen. 

The woman told officers she wanted charges to be filed against Bolton, and the sheriff’s department and Division of Family Services (DFS) would have her full cooperation during the investigation, including involvement of her children. 

On Dec. 30, 2025, a Child Advocacy Center forensic interview was conducted in Springfield with the juvenile victim. During the interview, the girl reportedly disclosed that she and Bolton had engaged in sexual acts from the time she was 13 until she was approximately 15. She said most of the acts took place in the Bolton family vehicle or at his residence in Sycamore, north of Gainesville in the Hodgson Mill area.

The probable cause statement says that during the forensic interview, the girl disclosed a “pregnancy scare” that occurred when she was just 14 years old. She also told interviewers that during the summer of 2024, she was frequently under the influence of marijuana and alcohol, provided by Bolton, who told her it would help with any pain involved. 

The report says two other juvenile witnesses were interviewed by CAC and corroborated details in regard to the girl’s statement that the family vehicle was a primary location for the abuse.