State of Missouri v. David K. Duncan

Farmington, Missouri, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with hree counts of first-degree statutory rape and six counts of second-degree
child molestation.

The evidence, in the light most favorable to the verdicts, is as follows:1
Before 2013, Victim and her younger brother (Brother) lived in Texas with their parents.
Due to parental neglect and substance abuse Victim and Brother spent two years in
Texas’ foster care system. In 2013, when Victim was eight and Brother was three,
Duncan brought them from Texas to live with him in Missouri. Unlike Victim’s parents,
Duncan provided Victim and Brother food, clothing, and stable housing. Duncan also
gifted Victim a cell phone.
Duncan habitually sexually abused and raped Victim from November 2018 to June
2021. Duncan began abusing Victim, when she was thirteen, and he was sixty-seven.
During these two and a half years, Duncan required Victim to sleep in his bedroom
almost every night, while Brother slept in his own room. Duncan’s abuse of Victim
began with him touching her vagina, and eventually proceeded to full intercourse. At the
initial stages of abuse, when Duncan was just touching Victim’s vagina, he told her that
he had sex with his wife when she was only twelve or thirteen, which was the same age
range of Victim at the time of the initial touching. Victim stated that when Duncan
touched her vagina he told her that he loved her and that he was showing her a different 3
type of love. On Duncan’s sixty-ninth birthday, Victim told Duncan she loved him over
text.
Duncan’s abuse escalated and he eventually began habitually raping Victim and
forcing her to perform oral sex. Victim testified that intercourse was extremely painful
for her and that she cried during these assaults. Sometime in late 2019, Duncan enrolled
Victim and Brother in mixed martial arts classes at a gym owned by Marie Collins
(Collins), a registered nurse. Collins noticed Duncan was always observing Victim
during these classes. Collins noted Duncan would be “touchy-feely” with Victim, and
that he would squeeze Victim’s legs while she sat next to him or would pat her butt. As a
result of the confidence Victim gained from her mixed martial arts classes, she began
telling Duncan “no” when he wanted to rape her. In response, Duncan would physically
assault Victim or scream at her all night, preventing her from sleeping and causing her to
miss school.

* * *

The Defendant was found guilty.

Affirmed