Moniteau County man faces 29 child porn charges
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A man from California, Missouri, who is facing felony charges in two counties has now been charged in Moniteau County with 29 counts of possessing child pornography.
Ernest Blair Jr., 21, was served a warrant on Thursday, according to court records. He was previously charged in Miller County with first-degree making a terroristic threat after he allegedly called in a gun threat last year to Eldon High School after a student asked him. A hearing in that case is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 at the Miller County Courthouse.
Blair was also charged earlier this year in Moniteau County with second-degree statutory rape. The probable cause statement in that case says Blair knew the victim was 15 years old and that the two were “trying to conceive a child.”
Multiple probable cause statements say law enforcement became aware of the “relationship” Blair had with the child on April 10. Law enforcement spoke with the victim on April 22 and she allegedly gave details of repeated assaults, the statement says.
Law enforcement arrested Blair on April 29 and he was charged with statutory rape the same day. Deputies obtained a search warrant to see Blair’s phone and the Missouri Digital Forensic Center gave a report months later indicating several images and videos of child porn were stored on the phone, the statement says.
A hearing in the statutory rape case is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18 at the Moniteau County Courthouse. A hearing has not been scheduled in his most-recent case.