INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — An Independence man is behind bars, accused of sexually abusing at least two young girls.
One victim’s mom said it never should’ve happened and has learned a loophole in the sex offender registry helped him have access to kids.
Jessica McClain fell in love with a Marine, and together, they built a blended family.
“We basically had the picture perfect life, and you would never expect something like this would happen,” McClain said.
Her husband, Daniel Fields, is now in jail, charged with three counts of child sodomy.
Court records say he forced his stepdaughter and a family friend to hold his genitals and put them in their mouth, even warning “this might hurt your throat.” Home security cameras even caught him sneaking into the child’s bedroom just before midnight while McClain was out-of-town for the evening.
“The girls got together and were brave enough to tell an adult at that point. It had been happening to my daughter a few months, and she had been scared to tell until her friend came to her and said it happened to her also,” McClain said.
She called police immediately.
“I was scared. I couldn’t, almost couldn’t believe this was happening to my family,” McClain said.
But when they first started dating, she did have some concerns. Several years ago, Fields was arrested for soliciting a teen online, who turned out to be a detective.
“When I found out about it, I looked on Case Net to make sure he didn’t have any cases here that were involving minors or anything like that. I looked him up numerous times on the Missouri sex offender list, which he wasn’t on,” McClain said.
She said with her doubts lifted, she felt good about marrying Fields in 2016 and having a baby with him.
“He always portrayed himself as a loving, caring father, almost to the extreme,” McClain said.
It turns out, Fields was previously a registered sex offender in California, which Jessica didn’t learn until detectives were investigating this case.
Fields should’ve told California of his plans to move. After moving, sex offenders then have 72 hours to update the county sheriff where they are living.
Because that didn’t happen, Fields wasn’t put on Missouri’s registry.
“If he would’ve been, people would’ve known. I wouldn’t have married him. He wouldn’t have been around these kids. My girls would’ve never been in this situation. It could’ve stopped a lot of hurt,” McClain said.
Law enforcement experts said it’s possible there are hundreds, even thousands, of sex offenders across the country who are not accurately registered, since currently the obligation to update an offender’s address currently lies with the offender.
If an offender is caught not properly registered after moving, they can be criminally charged with failing to report that information.
There is work happening nationally to update to sex offender registries so records can more easily follow someone when they move.
Meanwhile, McClain said Fields has connections to a day care in Excelsior Springs and has been around other children in Independence. She’s encouraging anyone who has concerns to contact police.
She also wants families to have regular talks with their children about anything that might be bothering them.
“People that abuse children are usually the closest people to them, and you never think it’s going to be that. And it’s hard to believe that, but it is. And you need to be questioning your kids, like ‘Is this happening to you? Always tell me if this happens,'” McClain said.
The victims in this case are getting counseling, and McClain is grateful for the support of family, friends and the community.
Fields is being held in the Jackson County Jail on a $250,000 bond.