Monday, April 20, 2026

Another perpetrator facing charges including sexual trafficking and child molestation

According to information on file in the Bates County Circuit Court, Christopher Todd Laroux 53, of Louisburg, Ks address, is now facing seven charges related to extreme sexual abuse and misconduct related to a minor child in Bates County Mo:

1. Sexual Trafficking Of A Child - 2nd Deg - Under 18 Yoa { Felony Unclassified RSMo: 566.211 }

2. Sexual Trafficking Of A Child - 2nd Deg - Under 18 Yoa { Felony Unclassified RSMo: 566.211 }

3. Statutory Sodomy - 2nd Degree { Felony D RSMo: 566.064 }

4. Child Molestation - 4th Degree - Child Less Than 17 Yoa And Offender Greater Than 4 Years Older

5. Child Molestation - 4th Degree - Child Less Than 17 Yoa And Offender Greater Than 4 Years Older

6. Possession Of Child Pornography - 1st Offense { Felony D RSMo: 573.037 }

7. Possession Of Child Pornography - 1st Offense { Felony D RSMo: 573.037} 

Laroux is represented by Public Defender Jason Speer and is currently being held on a $100,000 bond. The Defendant has requested a bond reduction with a hearing scheduled for May 6, 1:30 pm in the Bates County Circuit Court.

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Butler city-wide garage sales coming May 2


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Bates County Sheriff’s County K9s Falco and Griff to get donation of body armor


Bates County Sheriff’s Office, MO - K9s Falco and Griff will receive bullet and stab protective vest thanks to a charitable donation from non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. K9 Falco’s vest was sponsored by Les and Kay Filler of Emerald Hills, CA and will be embroidered with the sentiment “This gift of protection provided
by Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.”. K9 Griff’s vest was sponsored by Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. and will be embroidered with “In memory of Marie Jennings”. 
Delivery is expected within ten weeks. Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., established in 2009, is a 501(c)(3) charity whose
mission is to provide bullet and stab protective vests and other assistance to dogs of law enforcement and related agencies throughout the United States. This potentially lifesaving body armor for four-legged K9 officers is U.S. made, custom fitted, and
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) certified. Since its inception, Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. has provided over 6,397 vests valued at $6.9 million to K9s in all 50 states, made possible by both private and corporate donations.
The program is open to U.S. dogs at least 20 months old, actively employed, and certified with law enforcement or related agencies. K9s with expired vests are also eligible to participate. There are an estimated 30,000 law enforcement K9s throughout the United States.



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Bates County Elks present scholarships


The Bates County Lodge No. 2653 held their annual ceremony of presenting scholarships to local students last week. Recipients were L-R: Evie-Lyn Lewis, LeeAnna Parks, Lila Stephan, Garrett Davis and not available for the photo, Talya McRedrick. Good luck to all in future endeavors and thank you, Bates County Elks.


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Bates County Court News

Judge Julie Highley-Keutzer presiding
Fines do not include added court costs

St v Taggar Kellum- seatbelt violation, fine $10.00
St v Nicholas Ward- fail to register vehicle, fine $50.50
St v Georgie George- speeding, fine $200.50
St v Taggar Kellum- speeding, fine $60.50
St v David Terry- fail to register as sex offender, 4 years DOC
St v Brooklyn Landwehr- speeding, fine $120.50
City of Butler v Christian Chandler- fail to register vehicle, fine $50.50
City of Butler v Alyssa Harris- expired plates, fine $50.50
City of Butler v Katherine Jones- parking violation, fine $50.50
City of Butler v Caitlynn Dodson- fail to register vehicle, fine $125.00
City of Butler v Caitlynn Dodson- displaying plates of another vehicle, fine $125.00
City of Butler v Caitlynn Dodson- fail to produce license on demand, fine $100.00
St v William Weirick- speeding, fine $50.50
St v Steven Knoll- speeding, fine $50.50
St v Dominic Reynolds- speeding, fine $200.50
City of Rich Hill v Taylor McMurphy- no proof of insurance, fine $150.00
City of Adrian v Miles Thurman- defective equipment, fine $163.50
City of Rich Hill v Tory Hartsell- expired plates, fine $125.00
City of Adrian v Gary Masner- Defective equipment, fine $113.50
City of Rich Hill v Jennifer Gortney- speeding, fine $170.00
City of Butler v Briley Douglas- fail to register vehicle, fine $50.50
City of Rich Hill v James Watson- expired plates, fine $100.00
City of Rich Hill v Ashlee James-speeding, fine $150.00
City of Rich Hill v Alexander Skocy- expired plates, fine $50.50
City of Rich Hill v Taylor McMurphy-expired plates, fine $125.00
City of Rich Hill v Nolan Preston- speeding, fine $120.50
City of Rich Hill v Zach Henry- displaying plates of another vehicle, fine $100.00


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The Museum Minute: 5 papers in Bates County

Courtesy of the Bates County Museum 802 Elks Drive, Butler Mo 64730 (660) 679-013
4
Herrman’s Historical Happenings week of April 22
1882 Lots for burial are now available at the Oak Hill Cemetery, the former location of the fairgrounds and race track just East of Butler.
1887 Madame Dropae has returned to Adrian and opened a dress shop in her home.
1938 Butler's new 1,050 horsepower engine arrives at the Light Plant.
1943 A Tornado touches down in Southwest Bates Co, some damage, two are injured.
1949 The Western Auto store, on the northeast corner of the Butler square, undergoes a major remodel and everyone is invited to stop by and see.
1968 Newspapers in Bates County are the Adrian Journal, Bates County Democrat, Hume Border Messenger, Rich Hill Mining Review and the Rockville Leader.
1973 A large crowd attends the Easter Sunrise Services held at Recreation Lake in Butler. A number of area churches and pastors assist with the services.
2002 LeRoy Cook, executor of the Edgar Lee Robertson estate, presents the Bates County Historical Society with a check for $550,000. 


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Perfect shot at annual Bob Gunn Memorial Golf Tournament


CONGRATULATIONS to Jacob VanSlyke who had a hole-in-one during the 34th Annual Bob Gunn Memorial Golf Tournament held over the weekend. The Adrian Lions Club wishes to thank all who participated and we'll see you next year!


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What's Up by LeRoy Cook

Oh, What The Heck, Let’s Do It

A classic midwestern cold front showed up Friday evening, generating a convective weather polygon on the weather chart that stretched from Butler to Amarillo, Texas, and that didn’t even include an additional one containing a tornado that hit Belton. Frontal weather involves multiple movements; the cold front shoves itself southeastward, with the uplifted warm air generating storms that move northeast, along the axis of the front. Complicating things, individual storms cells can expand outward from their center, blowing off weather in all directions. 
Visitors observed last week included a Piper Saragota taking on fuel, a Piper Cherokee 180C in for skydiving, a vintage Taylorcraft BC-12D shooting landings and a Cirrus SR20 on an instrument approach. Dennis Walrath was over from Clinton in his Piper J-3 Cub and Mike Golden visited from New Century in his Cessna Turbo Centurion. On the military side, an Army Guard UH-60 helicopter dropped in and a B-2 Spirit bomber made a viewing pass.
Local pilots committing acts of aviation were Jerold and Steve Koehn in their Cessna Skyhawk, Dennis Walrath and I in my Aeronca Champ, Beth McCune brushing up in a Cessna 172 and Chris Hill in the SkyDive KC Cessna Caravan jump plane. 
In national news, Nervous Nellies loudly reported a “narrow escape” on Friday morning when a medical-transport jet failed to hold short of the runway at Louisville, KY’s airport, causing an approaching UPS freighter to initiate a go-around. It was a case of human error, offset by action taken by a vigilant human, which is how the system is supposed to work.  
Hard times in the airline business, caused by a big jump in jet fuel cost on the spot market, has caused some nervous quivering. Southwest raised the fee for a checked bag to $45, Spirit Airlines, operating under its second bankruptcy, is on the verge of shutting down due to lack of operating funds, and United Airlines was proposing a merger with American Airlines, except that American has said it’s not interested. Meanwhile, Delta Airlines is smilingly drawing fuel produced by its company-owned oil refinery; that still doesn’t do it any good on those turn-around trips to Europe.
Textron Aviation, builders of the remaining Cessna single-engine line, announced improvements to the Skyhawk, Skylane and Stationair last week. The full-glass instrument panel receives Garmin’s latest Version 7 upgrade tweaks and the engines’ outdated (but reliable) magneto ignition system is being abandoned in favor of dual electronic-ignition modules. For my part, I’d like to retain one mag, just in case there’s ever an electrical failure. 
Internationally, an Icelandair Airlines Captain was making his last flight before mandatory retirement, after 40 years on the job, and he decided “what the heck” to buzz his home town with the loaded Boeing 757 before setting the brakes for the last time at Keflavik. The predicable phone video captured the deed as he went by at 300 feet, so he’s under investigation; we hope he doesn’t lose his pension over this.  
The question from last week asked if it was possible to burn aviation gasoline in an aircraft with a turbine engine. The answer is, yes, the jet-fuel engine will burn avgas, but with certain precautions, and it doesn’t make sense economically, so it’s only useful in emergencies. Just don’t go the other way and try to put Jet-A in a spark-ignition piston engine, which is certain disaster. For next week, tell us if there was ever a SIX-engine jet airplane produced  You can send your answer to kochhaus1@gmail.com.


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