Charges dropped against alleged McDonald County cult member

KOAM reported earlier this evening and the Joplin Globe has posted a story on the dropping of charges against Paul Epling one of four members of an alleged McDonald County religious cult accused of ritual sex crimes against children:

A charge of rape against Paul S. Epling, 54, a deacon of Grand Valley Independent Baptist Church, near Powell, was withdrawn because the statute of limitations had expired, according to McDonald County Prosecutor Janice Durbin.

The alleged victim is a 35-year-old woman who claimed that Epling forced sexual intercourse on her when she was 6.

Epling originally faced two counts of first-degree statutory rape and five counts of first-degree statutory sodomy in connection with alleged sexual acts involving that girl and a second one between 1976 and 1983. Statute-of-limitations issues caused prosecutors to drop those charges over the past year.