A Carter County man was arrested Friday afternoon on a warrant for first-degree child molestation.
Denver Wade Gore, 45, of Van Buren was arrested at the Carter County Sheriff’s Department in Van Buren and later transported to the Butler County jail to be incarcerated on a 24-hour investigative hold.
According to the probable cause statement, Carter County Sheriff’s Deputy Nick Bratton was contacted May 17 by a Doniphan man. The man told Bratton that his 15-year-old stepdaughter had disclosed to a Doniphan school counselor that she had been molested by Gore when she was eight or nine years old.
One week later, the stepdaughter was interviewed by at the Child Advocate Center in Poplar Bluff by Cindy Hutchins, according to documents on file with the Carter County Courthouse. The teen allegedly told Hutchins that when she was six or seven years old, Gore would sniff her hair and tell her that she had a “nice body.” Gore allegedly touched the child inappropriately when she was eight or nine years old, and is accused of tying up and holding the child against her will during the incident.
The teen told authorities Gore threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
Gore met with Bratton at the Carter County Sheriff’s Department on Friday afternoon, where Bratton read Gore his Miranda rights and arrested him. Gore has denied the allegations.
Gore previously was charged with enticing a child under the age of 15 in 2017 and pleaded guilty to the charge of endangering the welfare of a child, creating substantial risk. He is currently a registered sex offender with the Carter County Sheriff’s Department.