Cole County prosecutors charged a homeless man - Timothy P. Rigby, 51 - with second-degree statutory rape and sodomy for an incident Monday morning involving a teenage girl.
His bond was set at $50,000.
Jefferson City police said the victim, identified only as H.D.C., told officers she had met a man she knew as "Tim" and they walked together to a place underneath the Missouri River Bridge, on the south side of the Missouri River.
Once underneath the bridge, she said, they smoked marijuana and she drank a beer, both supplied by the man.
Then, she said, they had consensual sex at about 7:30 a.m. Monday.
The police statement, by Det. Jon Kempker, said the girl identified Rigby in a photo lineup. After he was picked up for questioning, he admitted knowing the victim was only 15 years old.
Statutory rape and statutory sodomy both are Class C felonies, with a possible maximum punishment of two to seven years in the state prison system.
Citing two controlled substance possession convictions in Ohio, prosecutors charged Rigby as a "persistent" offender, which would raise the possible maximum prison sentence to five-15 years.
Police noted Rigby was arrested in New York for statutory rape in 1984, but neither the police statement nor the charges listed a conviction for that case. Assistant Prosecutor Aaron M. Maness told the News Tribune Rigby has no prior sexual convictions.