UPDATE 5/24/23 — Sebastian Mayhew was arrested on May 17. He is being held at the Greene County Jail without bond.

He is scheduled to have a criminal setting at 9 a.m. on May 31 and a preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. on June 14.

Original article, published May 16, 2023:

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Springfield man wanted for four felony rape and child molestation charges.

Sebastian Edward Mayhew, 19, of Springfield, is charged with three felony counts of first-degree rape of a victim less than 12 years of age and one felony count of child molestation.

A Springfield police report written in January states that on Oct. 27, 2022, the victim told their mother that Mayhew had sexually abused them for five years, starting when they were 4 years old. On the same day, the victim was forensically interviewed and said Mayhew sodomized them and had penetrative intercourse with them.

Mayhew was interviewed. He told police that he sexually assaulted and abused the child until they were 9 and corroborated details of the victim’s account. He described the progressive molestation as an “urge.”

According to the court documents, Mayhew abused and verbally threatened the victim for years to prevent them from speaking out about the abuse.

The police report was written on Jan. 6. Charges were filed on May 15. As of the morning of May 16, Mayhew had not been arrested.

OzarksFirst will update this article as Mayhew’s case progresses.