Carthage police say an 18-year-old man raped a girl under the "whee" bridge last week.
Michael R. Fleming, 18, Carthage was still being held as of Tuesday in the Jasper County Jail on $50,000 bond for allegedly taking a 16-year-old girl under the Oak Street bridge at 700 Oak St. and forcing her to have sex with him.
Police said the incident happened at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11.
The Jasper County Prosecutor's office charged Fleming on Monday with one felony count of forcible rape.
No arraignment date had been set as of late Tuesday.
According to a sworn statement by Carthage Police Officer Steve Waldo, Fleming and the girl were under the Oak Street bridge and Fleming threatened to take a knife and stab the victim's fiancé if she did not have sex with him.
The statement said the victim refused until Fleming threatened to kill the fiancé, when she had sex with him against her will.
Waldo said in the statement that the victim reported the incident immediately to a Carthage High School counselor and police after the suspect let her leave.
According to Jasper County Court records found on line at Missouri Case.net, Fleming is not to have contact with the alleged victim if he is released on bond.
The court records also show that two temporary restraining orders, ordering Fleming to stay away from a child and an adult, were granted on Tuesday.
A hearing on the child protection order is scheduled for 10 a.m., Sept. 24 in Joplin before Circuit Court Judge Stephen Carlton.
A hearing on the adult order of protection is slated for 2:30 p.m., Sept. 29 in Carthage before family court judge Jerry Holcomb.
