Man Charged With Statutory Rape of 16-Year-Old Who Disappeared With Him

A Wright City man who disappeared along with a 16-year-old girl was charged Friday with second-degree statutory rape. The girl had been listed as an endangered juvenile.

The two returned Jan. 23 when they ran out of money, according to a police report.

St. Charles County Sheriff’s detectives said Benjamin Kinkade, 27, and the 16-year-old girl fled the state together Jan. 14 after her father dropped her off at work at Kentucky Fried Chicken in St. Peters. According to court documents, the Kinkade met the girl and the two went to Iowa and Nebraska.

Detectives said Kinkade also entered the girl’s St. Charles County residence in the early morning hours on Jan. 14 and the two had consensual sex.

Kinkade is a registered sex offender. He entered a guilty plea on a charge of first-degree statutory rape in 2005 for having sex with a 12-year-old in 2002. He was 17 years old at the time. 

Kinkade is being held in St. Charles County jail in lieu of a $50,000 bond.

For more from St. Peters Patch, see the following articles:

• Two Arrested for Burglary of a St. Peters Apartment
• Police: Woman Assaulted Officer During DWI Arrest