WASHINGTON, Mo. — A 48-year-old Missouri man admitted to having sex with an 8-year-old girl and forcing her to eat methamphetamine, police told KTVI.
Detective Betsey Schulze, a police spokeswoman, said the incident happened at a hotel on Jan. 1.
The suspect, Brett Pendleton, rented a room at the American Inn on East Fifth Street. The man had the child with him, according to KTVI.
Investigators said the child’s mother came to the motel room on the evening of Jan. 1. The child told the mother that Pendleton had hurt her. The relationship between the child’s mother and the suspect is unclear.
According to police, the child said the suspect forced her to participate in several different types of sexual acts. The child also said the suspect made her eat methamphetamine, smoke marijuana, and smoke cigarettes.
The mother took the child to a local hospital and filed a police report.
Pendleton apparently left the hotel but was taken into custody after a traffic stop.
Investigators said evidence from inside the hotel room matched the victim’s statements.
Pendleton admitted to giving the child methamphetamine by rolling it in toilet paper and then feeding it to her. He also confessed to having sexual contact with the girl, according to police.
Pendleton was charged with one count of statutory sodomy or attempted statutory sodomy deviate sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 12, and an additional count of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child creating substantial risk. He remains jailed on a $250,000 cash-only bond.
