Jefferson City man charged with statutory rape

Gerald Rodgers
Gerald Rodgers

A Jefferson City man has been charged with second-degree statutory rape for an incident that allegedly occurred last year.

Gerald Rodgers, 46, is also charged with fourth-degree child molestation.

Investigators talked in April with a teenage family member of Rodgers who claimed he had committed these acts, according to a Cole County Sheriff's Department probable cause statement.

The incident reportedly occurred in the victim's bedroom in September.

The victim's mother later reportedly asked Rodgers if this had happened, and Rodgers allegedly claimed he didn't know, saying he had been taking sleeping medication at the time.

Authorities said the victim showed them a video taken with a cellphone of a conversation with Rodgers where Rodgers tried to dissuade the victim from going forward with the allegations against him.