Lebanon, Mo. man charged with child sex crimes at wife’s home babysitting operation

LEBANON, Mo. (KY3) - A man from Lebanon has been charged after officers arrested him for child-related sex crimes.

Court documents say 44-year-old Thomas Kincheloe has been charged with three counts of statutory sodomy or attempted statutory sodomy - deviate sexual intercourse - person less than 12 years old, and one count of second-degree child molestation of a child less than 12 years old.

Lebanon police say there are multiple victims in an ongoing investigation.

According to a probable cause statement from the Lebanon Police Department, on December 20, detectives got a report from Children’s Division that stated a seven-year-old girl had told her school counselor that her babysitter’s husband had been touching her inappropriately in her private area. He also asked her to feel his private area.

The husband was identified as Kincheloe.

On December 29, detectives went to a child advocacy center in Lebanon and interviewed the seven-year-old and she told them in explicit detail what Kincheloe did to her when they were alone in his bedroom.

Detectives interviewed a mother of a three-year-old female who shared what she saw when she went to pick up her daughter. Court documents say on December 2, the mother was picking up her youngest daughter from the babysitter’s house. When she got there, she heard a kid yelling “ow that hurts,” from the hallway.

The mother followed the voice and saw a cracked bedroom door. She was able to see her daughter laying on her belly watching TV with no pants or a diaper and saw Kincheloe behind her daughter. The mother says he acted like he was changing the diaper. The mother grabbed her child and her stuff and left.

Detectives went to the home of the babysitter and Kincheloe. His wife said she used to babysit and the last time she did was at the beginning of December. An investigator with DFS asked Kincheloe about the accusations made by the seven-year-old. He did not deny the accusation and told investigators, “I don’t understand. I’m barely around them.”

Kincheloe was then arrested and taken to the Lebanon Police Department for questioning. During the interview, authorities learned of more child victims. One of them was a 10-year-old female who had been going to the babysitter for 8-9 months. Her father asked if she had been inappropriately touched by Kincheloe and she said yes. The girl was scared to explain the details because she thought Kincheloe would “do something to mommy or daddy.”

According to court documents, Kincheloe discussed with detectives in detail what occurred with the seven-year-old girl and other victims, and claimed it was not intentional.

The detective investigating ends the probable cause statement by saying, “I believe that the defendant poses a danger to a crime victim because he has victimized 4+ children at the time of typing this.”

To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com

Copyright 2022 KY3. All rights reserved.