A 23-year-old Williamsburg man has been accused after allegedly forcing a foster relative to do sexual acts, some of which he videotaped on his phone.
According to court documents filed earlier this month in Randolph County, Matthew Baumgartner was charged with seven counts of child molesting, four of which are classed as Level 1 felonies and three as Level 3 felonies.
The Randolph County Department of Child Services contacted investigators from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department in mid-September about a purported sex crime brought to their attention by an 11-year-old.
According to the records, the 11-year-old was visiting her former foster home, which included Baumgartner. During that visit, Baumgartner allegedly pushed the youngster to engage in sexual acts.
The girl told law authorities that Baumgartner had forced her to perform sexual acts before and that she “tried to report other instances of sexual abuse” but that other family members did not believe her.
“(The juvenile) stated that (Baumgartner) would often tell her that if she didn’t do something, then something bad would happen,” the documents said. “(The juvenile) also stated that (Baumgartner) told her that it was their secret and (she) couldn’t tell anyone.”
When law enforcement personnel spoke with Baumgartner, he initially denied having sexual contact. Later in the interrogation, however, the documents claim that Baumgartner admitted to having sexual intercourse with the child several times.
Baumgartner reportedly informed authorities that the first incident happened when the child was eight years old. Over several years, there were more than ten incidents of sexual contact, some of which were captured on camera or in photographs.
According to the records, Baumgartner was arrested, and law enforcement seized his cell phones.
Baumgartner’s pretrial conference is set for December 19th, and his jury trial is slated for January 20th, 2025.
Reference: Fox-59 News