Trial Begins For Former Camdenton Janitor Accused Of Masturbating In Front Of Children

LACLEDE COUNTY, Mo. — The trial began today for a former Camdenton R-III School District janitor, accused of exposing himself to children at Camdenton’s Oak Ridge Intermediate school.

Jesse Devore, 30, of Sunrise Beach is charged with six counts of sexual misconduct involving a child under 15, in incidents going back as far as 2013. Devore was arrested in 2019 for allegedly masturbating in front of a student at Camdenton Middle School. Devore is also accused of incidents that allegedly occurred in the Camdenton Walmart parking lot and bathroom in 2013 as well as a juvenile victim’s driveway in 2015.

With Judge Kenneth Hayden presiding, the trial at Laclede County Courthouse began Tuesday afternoon, with jury selection that brought twelve jurors from Laclede County. The seven women and six men appear to range in age from mid-20s to mid-70s.

The trial began with opening arguments from Camden County prosecutor Caleb Cunningham, who went through a detailed overview of the six counts and the witness statements the jury will be hearing.

"When I stood up here to talk to you, I quoted the defendant saying that he 'generally stops' when people catch him masturbating in public. The evidence will show that six boys saw this defendant masturbating, the evidence in this case will show that six times the defendant will not stop, and this case will show that the defendant is guilty of six counts of sexual misconduct involving a child under 15,” Cunningham said at the end of his opening argument.

Defense attorney Stacy Paterson gave an account of testimony and video footage of the last incidence in 2019 at Oak Ridge Intermediate. She suggested possible inconsistencies with the testimony from witnesses, emphasizing the suggestibility of their age. She warned the jury to pay close attention to each testimony and each charge.

“You can see how very important it is to listen so very closely to the things that are said and how things are said each time the story is told, so I ask you to pay very close attention and to what each witness says. I believe when you do that and use your common sense and your life experiences and knowledge of human nature, you will find Mr. Devore not guilty on all counts,” she told the jury.

The prosecution's first witness spoke of his experience when a man exposed himself at the Camdenton Walmart in 2013, when the witness was nine years old.

“He tapped me on my shoulder and showed me his penis… I turned around and his penis was in front of me,” the witness said. “I was very disgusted and walked out very quickly.”

The witness identified Jesse Devore as the man who had exposed himself.

The witness’s father, who had been with his son at Walmart that day, although not in the bathroom with him, went on the stand next. The witness's father spoke with emotion, choking up several times as he explained what had happened to his son.

"Your nine year old comes up and tells you that someone just showed them their penis, it’s not something you hear every day!" he responded, when the defense asked if he had asked his son any questions about the incident.

During the witness father’s testimony, the prosecution introduced a video depicting Devore pulling into the Walmart parking lot, masturbating both in the parking lot and in his car, and then going into the store and heading straight to the bathroom. Store video showed the witness entered, a minute or so passed, and the witness left, followed by Devore. Devore then returned to his car and left without buying anything.

The next witness, now 17 although he was 11 at the time, of these alleged events, spoke on stand about walking to a friend's house and allegedly seeing Devore (his next-door neighbor) masturbating with his pants around his ankles outside of Devore’s own house.

The boy said he saw Devore as he walked to his friends house, told the friend, and then said that they saw Devore two more times as they went back and forth from each other's house over the course of 45 minutes.

“At that age, I didn’t really understand what was happening,” the witness said.

The two boys (the second witness testified after the first) allege that they both made eye contact with Devore on the last encounter with him and went to tell the second boy's mother.

When asked by prosecutors how the witness knew that Devore wasn’t just urinating, the witness answered, "Nobody pees for 45 minutes."

That was the end of testimony for Tuesday. The trial is set to resume Wednesday at 9 a.m.