Registered sex offender arrested in Independence, charged with child sex crimes again

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (KCTV) - An Independence man has been charged with a trio of felonies related to child sex crimes.

Court records in Jackson County revealed charges for Craig Trussell on Wednesday, May 7. Trussell, 55, is charged with second-degree sodomy and two counts of fourth-degree child molestation.

Trussell is accused of inviting a teenager from Lawrence, Kansas, to his home after communicating and receiving sexual pictures and videos from the girl via social media. When officers with the Independence Police Department went to his home in the 1000 block of N. Duvall, they found the girl, who Trussell knew was a runaway or endangered juvenile.

Trussell admitted to police he contacted the girl through Facebook and admitted to sexually assaulting the girl at his home. He told police the girl had been at his home since May 4.

Court records revealed Trussell was already a registered sex offender in Platte County, Missouri, on an original charge of statutory sodomy of a 12-year-old victim.

Trussell is in the Jackson County Jail and being held on a $100,000 bond.

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