A 35-year-old St. Louis man now faces a Class X felony charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault with the use of a controlled substance.
The charge is the seventh against Courtney Buffkins filed in Marion County Court in connection with alleged sexual acts with the girl that extended from February or March 2020 until November of last year when he was arrested when found in a Salem motel room with the girl.
The newest charge is being added because DNA evidence taken in a rape kit the day the juvenile was found in the motel room has come back as positive that Buffkins had committed a sexual act. The girl had told police earlier she couldn’t remember what happened that day because she had drank a mixture given to her by Buffkins that was earlier found by the crime lab to contain methamphetamine. A sixth charge had been added last month of aggravated battery by ingestion of a toxic substance when those lab results showed meth in both a bottle of whiskey and in the girl’s urine.
Buffkins also faces one other Class X charge of aggravated kidnapping and four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse from five other visits to Salem where he allegedly engaged with sexual acts with the juvenile. The kidnapping charge claims Buffkins in February or March of 2020 by use of force or threat of force carried the juvenile to another location with the intent to secretly confine her against her will and committed aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
During a court hearing this week, Buffkins waived arraignment and pleaded NOT guilty. A preliminary hearing on the new charge has been set for March 29th. Buffkins jury trial date was confirmed for April 12th.
Buffkins remains in the Marion County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bond.
