Missouri Police Officer Charged with Multiple Sex Crimes Against Minors

Johnathon “John” Taylor, a police officer from Macon who works for the La Plata Police Department, is caught in a legal storm.

Taylor was arrested on Wednesday by the Missouri State Highway Patrol after a thorough investigation by the Troop B Criminal Investigative Unit of the Patrol’s Division of Drugs and Crime Control.

The harrowing saga began in February 2021 and July 2022, when the La Plata Police Department requested the Highway Patrol’s aid in investigating two separate charges against Taylor involving the sexual assault of juvenile females.

Subsequent investigations revealed a terrible pattern of abuse dating back to 2017 when Taylor allegedly sexually assaulted two minor girls in separate locations across Macon County.

The Macon County Prosecuting Attorney appointed a special prosecutor from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office to handle Taylor’s cases to ensure impartiality.

On Wednesday, the Attorney General’s Office formally charged Taylor with seven counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, six counts of fourth-degree child molestation, one count of second-degree statutory rape, and one count of patronizing prostitution.

Taylor is currently detained without bond at the Randolph County Jail, awaiting legal processes. Despite the gravity of the charges brought against him, the sheriff’s office has yet to provide a mugshot of the accused, allowing the public to struggle with the gravity of the claims without a visual representation.