Joplin man bound over for trial on endangering the welfare of a child charges

Mathew John Uitts (DOB 1988), Joplin, was bound over for trial on two charges of endangering the welfare of a child after waiving his preliminary hearing in Newton County Circuit Court Monday.

Uitts' arraignment in Division 2 is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. June 24.

The charges were filed against Uitts in November 2024, according to online court records.

The allegations against Uitts are detailed in the probable cause statement:

Officers on scene stated that while walking through the home they noticed the carpet was sticking to their shoes. They noticed the carpet was completely moldy and stained. They noticed there was old food scattered everywhere. 

The sink was full of old moldy dishes with old food in them. There were also old dishes with food scattered throughout the home. 

Matthew Uitts took me back to where his room was. They noticed there were multiple propane torches and marijuana wax in the room. 

While we were in Uitts' room, they noticed his son Vl was sitting on the bed playing with a phone. They noticed there were open marijuana wax containers on the desk and night stands. 

Matthew Uitts then walked me to Vl 's room. They walked into the room and noticed there was a large knife on the wall. They also noticed the room was dirty and there was trash and dirty toys around the room. 

Matthew Uitts then showed them the bathroom. The bathroom was between Vl and Allyonna Dunn's room. They walked into the bathroom and could not stay inside the room very long due to the overwhelming smell. 

I noticed the toilet was dry of water and it was half-full of human feces. Officers then knocked on Allyona Dunn's bedroom door and asked her if they could come into the room; she stated yes. They noticed Dunn's child V2 was standing up in a pack and play in the corner of the room. 

I noticed there was a wall outlet sticking out of the wall next to the playpen. They noticed there was exposed wires at the outlet and there was a pile of clothes next to it. The entire event was audio and video recorded on officer body cam.