Sex offender faces JC misdemeanor charges

A man from Liberty is facing three counts of first-degree sexual misconduct for incidents that occurred Thursday in Jefferson City.

Robert Howard, 47, is also charged with one count of being a convicted sex offender and loitering within 500 feet of a school.

All of these charges are misdemeanors. As of Friday, Howard was being held in the Cole County Jail.

Howard approached an office building in the 3200 block of Emerald Drive on Thursday and exposed his genitals to three different employees who saw him through their windows, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement.

When the victims approached Howard, he left the area in a vehicle. The victims were able to get a description of Howard as well as a description of his vehicle and the license plate number.

These incidents occurred within 200 feet of a private school.

Later, Howard's earlier victims saw him driving through their office lot at a slow speed, and while passing by, he was peering in office windows. The victims then began to follow Howard to provide his location to officers.

Shortly afterward, Howard was spotted on the Greenway Trail on West Edgewood Drive, where he exposed his genitals to an approaching female jogger. The earlier victims contacted the jogger and took her to their vehicle.

Officers stopped Howard near West Edgewood and Emerald, and it appeared he was going to try and flee but was unable to do so because of traffic in the area.

When he was taken into custody, officers found multiple bandanas in his pocket and a 9mm pellet gun in his vehicle.

Initially Howard denied the allegations against him, but he later admitted to being in the West Edgewood/Emerald Drive area.

Court records show Howard was convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct in Kansas, which required him to register as a sex offender in Missouri. Because of this, he must stay away from public parks and schools. Howard also has a case pending against him in Miller County after an arrest by Lake Ozark police in August for a similar incident.