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Left: Travis Kalchbrenner (Cole County Sheriff’s Department). Right: Fredrick Copping (Cole County Sheriff’s Department).
A Missouri dad thought his teenage daughter was talking to a “nice guy” online and allegedly invited him to come live with them — even though that guy was 31 years old.
Fredrick Copping, 47, was arrested on March 14 along with Travis Kalchbrenner, 31, the Florida man who called Copping’s 15-year-old daughter his “girlfriend.” According to a probable cause statement obtained by KMIZ, a local ABC affiliate, police were called to the home in response to a possible domestic incident. The arrest warrant for Copping said that when Cole County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, they observed that the teenager was “extremely intoxicated,” and according to KMIZ’s reporting, she claimed to be 22 years old.
Deputies soon found out that she was 15 years old — and her living situation raised some eyebrows.
According to Copping’s arrest warrant, he explained to police that his daughter had been talking to Kalchbrenner for a “few years” on the internet, and KMIZ reported that the two communicated on the Discord app, including video chats. Copping told police that Kalchbrenner “seemed like a nice guy” and allegedly invited the man to move into his home with his underage daughter. Copping stated that he believed Kalchbrenner was “25 or 26 years old,” but reportedly admitted that he “wasn’t sure.”
The probable cause statement, as well as the warrant, described how Copping and his daughter allegedly drove to Florida to get Kalchbrenner. When the trio arrived back at their Russellville home in Missouri, Copping allegedly “provided the ‘boyfriend’ with condoms” and told Kalchbrenner “he better not get her pregnant.”
Copping was also asked by police about his daughter’s alleged intoxicated state. According to the warrant, he said, “she has the habit of getting into his alcohol and he can’t control that.”
According to the probable cause statement, deputies said that Kalchbrenner allegedly admitted to several sexual encounters with the teenager, whom he thought was 22 years old.
Kalchbrenner was charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, two counts of statutory rape, one count of first-degree sexual abuse, and one count of fourth-degree child molestation. He is being held at the Cole County Jail without bond. He is due in court on March 21.
Copping was charged with child abuse, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, first-degree accessory to rape, first-degree accessory to sodomy, two counts of second-degree accessory to statutory rape, one count of first-degree accessory to sexual abuse, and fourth-degree accessory to child molestation. During his video arraignment on March 17, he pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is also being held at the Cole County Jail without bond. He is scheduled for a counsel status hearing on March 21 and a preliminary hearing on April 3.
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