Woman claims a small Missouri town covered up a child sex crime five years ago

A woman is claiming that officials in a small Missouri town covered up claims of child molestation against a man who later became a student pastor in Greene County.

Spenser Farr, 24, was charged this week with five counts of statutory sodomy in connection with incidents that reportedly took place in 2012 and 2013.

According to court documents filed this week, Farr molested a boy dozens of times at the city pool in Steelville, a small town in central Missouri.

The documents say Farr's supervisor told a detective that Farr was fired in 2013 because he touched a child's genitals.

However, it wasn't clear from court documents if that supervisor ever told authorities about the incident.

The supervisor, Melinda Simpson, contacted the News-Leader Thursday to correct the record, she said.

According to Simpson, she was at work at the pool when she was told that Farr had inappropriately touched a child.

Simpson said she did not have the power to fire someone, so instead, she told Farr to go home and contacted the mayor at the time, Terry Palmer.

A meeting at the Steelville city hall was set up, Simpson said. She was there and so were Palmer, Farr and Farr's father, Simpson said.

A police officer also attended the meeting, according to Simpson.

Prior coverage: Man molested 2 boys before becoming student pastor at Greene County church, police say

According to Simpson, the group decided — against her wishes — that as long as Farr had been fired, the "city of Steelville can just forget about it."

"I was told, 'You do not speak about this with your lifeguards or anyone else," Simpson said. "It really upset me."

Simpson said she and Palmer had a "few words about it."

"It's not right. We can't unleash him on the world," she said. "He told me to keep my mouth shut."

Reached by phone, Palmer, the former mayor, refused to say whether or not he attended such a meeting at city hall. He repeatedly declined to comment.

The police officer did not respond to a request for comment.

No one was taking notes at the meeting, Simpson said, but she made a record of the accusation against Farr — a pool incident report.

"It pretty much stated Spenser Farr was accused of physically touching a little boy's crotch," Simpson said.

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The News-Leader requested that report from the city of Steelville.

However, a statement provided by the city said records from that period were destroyed by flooding in June 2015.

The town of Steelville is small, with fewer than 1,700 residents. Simpson said she now lives in Kentucky.

"It went by your last name in that town," Simpson said, and Farr was the son of a pastor.

"Nobody was ever going to believe his son was going to do something like that," Simpson said.

The story continues below.

The News-Leader spoke with Spenser Farr's father, Kevin Farr, briefly by phone Thursday.

Kevin Farr declined to comment on his son's case. When a News-Leader reporter began to ask Farr about the meeting described by Simpson, he hung up.

Spenser Farr left Steelville and later became a student pastor at a church in Greene County, just northwest of Springfield city limits.

Hamlin Baptist Church said in a statement that Spenser Farr is no longer a student pastor at the church.

"The church personnel team has released Spenser Farr from the position of student pastor at Hamlin Baptist Church and we have no other announcement or information at this time."

It does not appear from court documents that the accusations against Spenser Farr are in any way related to his time as a youth pastor at Hamlin Baptist.

Spenser Farr was apparently investigated after the allegations against him resurfaced in 2017.

This time, a detective from Rolla investigated Spenser Farr.

According to a probable cause statement, that detective determined Spenser Farr molested two boys in 2012 and 2013 in Phelps and Crawford counties.

The statement says the sexual abuse took place at two public pools: The Centre in Rolla and the Steelville City Pool in Steelville.

In the summer of 2012, Spenser Farr was showering with a boy after Farr, the boy and the boy's sister had all gone swimming together at The Centre, documents say. During the shower, Spenser Farr allegedly touched the boy's genitals and continued to molest him after the boy told Farr to stop.

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According to documents, the boy was either 12 or 13 at the time.

Spenser Farr repeatedly sexually abused a different boy at the city pool in Steelville during the summers of 2012 and 2013, court documents say, while Farr worked at the pool as a swimming instructor and lifeguard.

Spenser Farr allegedly molested the boy in the pool despite the boy telling Farr to stop.

According to court documents, the boy said Spenser Farr molested him about eight times in 2012 and more than 20 times in 2013.

Spenser Farr is facing criminal charges in both Phelps and Crawford counties, court records say.

According to court records, Farr was originally booked into the Crawford County Jail Wednesday on a $500,000 bond, which has since been reduced to $50,000.

Farr posted 10 percent of the bond and has been released from jail, court records say.

Farr's attorney told the News-Leader his client is innocent.