SW Mo. man charged as 'predatory sexual offender'

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - A 68-year-old Greene County man who has been convicted in four states of molesting children has been charged as "predatory sexual offender" in Missouri and could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors charged Ronald Richard Reed of Strafford on Tuesday with first-degree child molestation and sexual misconduct involving a child less than 15 years. The charges stem from the alleged molestation of an 8-year-old girl earlier this year on a Greene County farm.

The Springfield News-Leader reports (http://bit.ly/PZTJyx ) prosecutors say Reed was living under an assumed name across the road from a children's home, which houses youths 6 to 18 years old.

The prosecutor's office said Wednesday that Reed doesn't appear to have obtained an attorney. He was being held in lieu of $100,000 bond.