GLADSTONE, Mo. — A Gladstone man is facing charges after allegedly sexually assaulting a child who lived next door to him.
Larry Kretzschmer, 75, faces a felony count of deviant statutory sodomy in Clay County.
On Dec. 17, a pastor at Avondale Church contacted law enforcement with a tip that one of his members had accused Kretzschmer of molesting their daughter when she was underage.
The victim, who is now 19, told investigators that Kretzschmer initially touched her genitals over her clothing in the backyard of her house when she was around 5 years old and that the touching continued until she was 15.
She said the touching only stopped when the family moved away.
During an interview with investigators, Kretzschmer admitted to touching the victim from the age of 5 or 6 until she was 12 years old, court documents say.
According to court records, he said the touching began outside of the child’s clothing and progressed to penetrating with his fingers.
Kretzschmer allegedly told detectives that he didn’t know why he targeted the victim, but that the, “Devil was in his ear,” telling him that the victim wanted to be touched that way.
Kretzschmer was released from jail on $10,000 bond.
