Detective Jason Francis named Joplin PD November Officer of the Month

(From the Joplin Police Department)

The Joplin Police Department is proud to recognize Detective Jason Francis, who has been awarded Officer of the Month for November of 2023 by Chief Richard Pearson. His nomination was based on the following:

In October 2023, you received a report from an Arkansas Police Department via mail. The report was in reference to a child molestation case which included over 300 pages of text messages and a CAC interviews. You reviewed all the data and began your investigation. 

Per the report, the victim was identified as an eleven-year-old female who claimed to have been molested when she was eight and nine years old in Joplin. You were able to identify and locate the suspect, who had been the child’s mother’s boyfriend during the time of the molestation.

You were able to convince the suspect to come to the station for an interview. During the interview he admitted to sending numerous graphic text messages to the victim but denied any sexual contact. You were able to locate the victim’s mother who lived over an hour away and convinced her to come to Joplin for an interview. 

During the mother’s interview she confessed to witnessing and being complicit in the suspect sexually assaulting the child.

In November, after you had reviewed all the facts of the case, the suspect was arrested for two counts of Statutory Sodomy in the 1st Degree, Child Molestation in the 2nd Degree, and Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a minor. Bond was set at $100,000 cash only. 

You did an excellent job of following up on this case. Had you not conducted quality interviews with both the suspect and the mother, there would not have been enough information for criminal charges.
Detective Francis, thank you for your dedication to our profession and the citizens we serve.

Richard A. Pearson
Chief of Police