A 37-year-old St. Louis man has now been charged with five counts of child pornography in connection with an alleged second female juvenile victim in Marion County. Courtney Buffkins was also charged with one Class X child pornography charge and additional counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault with a controlled substance and aggravated criminal sexual abuse with the alleged original victim.
Buffkins was already being held on seven other felony charges in connection with the first alleged victim including aggravated kidnapping and multiple sexual abuse and assault charges following incidents on at least five days in the Marion County area starting in early 2020 and continuing until the day of his arrest at a Salem motel in November 2021.
Salem Police Detective Tyler Rose says a further check of the contents on the multiple phones taken from Buffkins turned up the new evidence. The Class X child pornography charge naming the initial victim states Buffkins allegedly took a video of himself having sex with the girl. The other four new child pornography charges are for images of a sexual nature with the second alleged victim now identified in the case.
Buffkins was originally scheduled to go on jury trial this week on five of the seven counts already on file prior to Tuesday, but that jury trial was delayed until September 12th earlier this month. Hudspeth earlier stated he would not initially try the aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual abuse charge related to the first encounter Buffkins is accused of having with the girl in February or March 2020. Hudspeth retains the option to try those two counts at a later date. The other charges all involve incidents that allegedly occurred in Salem in October and November 2021. It was not immediately clear if Buffkins would face trial on the nine new charges in September or if a separate court date would be set.
Buffkins earlier pleaded guilty in Marion County Court to a reduced charge of misdemeanor obstructing identity. Salem Police had initially arrested Buffkins for giving a false name when he was allegedly found in a Salem motel room with the juvenile girl. He received a 364-day sentence to the Marion County Jail with credit for time served.
Buffkins has also been sentenced to 18 months in prison when pleading guilty last year in Cumberland County Court to a criminal sexual abuse charge. He also has pending sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a juvenile victim charges pending in Coles County Court at Charleston.
Buffkins is next due back in Marion County Court for an August 29th pretrial hearing. He is currently being held in the Marion County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bond on the Marion County charges.
