BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - A 64-year-old homeless man charged in August 2010 with the molestation of three children aged seven, eight and nine pled guilty as charged in a Stoddard County courtroom on Wednesday.
Nathan Purdom is charged with three counts of the felony statutory sodomy in the first degree stemming from the incident that allegedly took place at a home where he was staying in Dexter.
In Feb. 2011, Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney offered one life sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. Purdom failed to accept the offer within the imposed deadline so it was withdrawn in court.
Oliver said the state made no offers in exchange for his guilty plea and did not dismiss any of the charges.
A sentencing assessment report has been ordered and he is set to re-appear for sentencing on Feb. 15, 2012. He faces the possibility of three consecutive life sentences.
The initial charges were filed against Purdom after the seven-year-old child told her parents of several instances of molestation involving the man who had been taken in by her parents. At that time, Purdom was ousted from the home and police were notified. He was picked up within a short time following the call in close proximity to the home where he had been staying.
Shortly thereafter, Purdom was charged with two additional counts of the same charge following further investigation by Dexter Police Detective Cory Mills. According to the warrant request issued by former Prosecuting Attorney Briney Welborn, there is probable cause to believe that between June 1, 2010 and July 16, 2010, Purdom was involved with deviate sexual intercourse with two other local children.
In Mills' probable cause statement filed July 27, 2010, Purdom is said to have admitted to additionally sexually molesting two other girls, ages eight and nine. The two are reportedly cousins of the seven-year-old from whom the original charges stemmed.