UPDATE 4/5/2023 — Online court records show James I. Vaughn was scheduled for a court appearance on March 29, but the appearance was rescheduled for a later date. There have been no further updates from the court at this time.
WAYNESVILLE, Mo. — Court appearances are set for Wednesday morning (3/29/23) for a 32-year-old St. Robert man facing multiple rape, sodomy, domestic assault and weapons charges in four separate Pulaski County cases.
According to court documents, James I. Vaughn is accused of:
- Rape and sodomy in August of 2022.
- Rape and sodomy in October of 2022.
- Rape, sodomy and sexual abuse of a minor female in November of 2022.
- Domestic assault and unlawful use of a weapon in February of 2023.
Three of the cases are set for plea hearings on Wednesday and the fourth has been transferred to a Pulaski County grand jury. Vaughn is facing a total of 11 felony charges.
According to a probable cause statement, a victim alleged she was drugged and assaulted by Vaughn and used in a sexual encounter with himself and two others in August.
Charges forwarded to the grand jury are based on a probable cause that details a juvenile female’s interview with investigators in which she describes being sexually assaulted in October.
A probable cause statement for the November allegations describes a minor’s account of how Vaughn attacked her after a bonfire party when she was given a pill that made her go numb. In that case, Vaughn faces a rape charge, two sodomy charges and two counts of sexual abuse.
February allegations of domestic assault and unlawful use of a weapon stem from an interview in which a woman described as a “paramour” of Vaughn told investigators he repeatedly choked her and pulled a gun on her threatening to kill her over alleged cheating with an ex-boyfriend.
That court document also states that the investigator believed Vaughn should be held in custody because he is a suspect of other violent crimes and has been found “guilty of rape and domestic violence-strangulation out of Hale County, Alabama, where he currently has warrants out for his arrest due to fleeing before he could be sentenced.”
Vaughn is being held in lieu of a $250,000 bond in the Pulaski County Jail.
