Deceased/Not Found MO - Christian Ferguson, 9, disabled, St Louis, 11 June 2003 *dad Arrest 2019 murder & rape charges *guilty*

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Father charged with son’s murder now facing child sex crime charges
Posted 2:28 pm, October 24, 2019, by Staff Writer

Snipped:
On Thursday (October 24), the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office additionally charged Dawan Ferguson with first-degree Statutory Rape, first-degree Statutory Sodomy, second-degree Statutory Rape, second-degree Statutory Sodomy, and second-degree Child Molestation. Bond is set on these additional charges at $500,000.00.
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Link: Father charged with son’s murder now facing child sex crime charges
 
Christian Ferguson case: Father’s murder charge dismissed but later refiled | FOX 2

ST. LOUIS – Charges were dismissed against a Dawan Ferguson, a man accused of killing his own child, but were refiled the next day. It’s the latest twist impacting a high-profile missing child case.

Christian Ferguson is still missing. Family members and police have been searching for 16 years.

He was 9 years old when he left with his dad, Dawan Ferguson, and was never seen again.

In June 2003, Dawan called 911 from a payphone reporting someone carjacked his SUV with Christian inside. Police later found the SUV but not Christian. He had a genetic disorder and investigators say he wouldn’t survive 72 hours without the proper medicine.

Last year, the St. Louis County prosecutor filed a murder charge against Dawan Ferguson. Christian’s mother, Theda Person, stood behind law enforcement for the announcement.

“I knew that justice was on its way, but I’m in shock,” Person said at the time.

Judge Nancy Watkins-McLaughlin was set to hear a defense argument next week over disputed evidence. The trial was to begin in March. That entire schedule will now be thrown out, because Assistant St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert Steele dismissed the murder charge against Dawan Ferguson and refiled it the next day.

FOX 2 asked defense attorney Joel Schwartz for possible reasons, because it’s happened to his former clients.

“There’s two reasons that I can think of – one is judge shopping. They’re not happy with ruling the judge has made or they’re simply not comfortable with that judge, so you dismiss and refile delaying the process,” Schwartz said. “Or at the time of trial, your motions or witnesses aren’t available. Is it illegal? No. Is it ok? I would argue no. It’s delaying the process and in most cases the individual is confined.”

A spokesman for the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office said the move is simply procedural.

When pressed, he said that’s all he can say until after trial, but he was adamant it’s not about shopping for a different judge.

The move will delay the Dawan Ferguson case for months potentially, as everything starts over, from the selection of a judge to a new grand jury, and an entirely new arraignment.
 
COVID’s impact on justice system: ‘It is a huge departure from how we try people’

Another St. Louis County case could bring answers in the decades-old missing person case of Christian Ferguson. The 9-year-old has been missing for 16 years. His father, Dawan Ferguson, faces two possible trials: one for murder and another for sexual assault. The judge and attorneys have worked through video conferencing to set one of the trials to be among the first out of the gate when juries return.
 
JerseyGirl said:
COVID’s impact on justice system: ‘It is a huge departure from how we try people’

Another St. Louis County case could bring answers in the decades-old missing person case of Christian Ferguson. The 9-year-old has been missing for 16 years. His father, Dawan Ferguson, faces two possible trials: one for murder and another for sexual assault. The judge and attorneys have worked through video conferencing to set one of the trials to be among the first out of the gate when juries return.
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Has DF been charged with sexually abusing his son? I couldn't tell with the various charges. Also, is there any indication that the step-mother knew that the child was dead? I'm not at all saying there is. I'm just asking, bc I don't know anything about this case.

I wonder if the step-Mom will be testifying? (Is that why the protection order was granted, or is there also a history of DV?)
 
JerseyGirl said:
Dawan Ferguson caused the death of his son, Christian, in 2003. On Thursday, they charged Ferguson, 46, with one count of first-degree murder. He was being held without bail.

The boy’s body has never been found, though he has long been presumed dead.

Disabled boy went missing 16 years ago, now father is charged with his murder

According to court records, Ferguson’s wife of 18 years filed for divorce Sept. 16, claiming in court documents that he sexually abused two of her relatives for years, and fathered a child by one of them. She also got a protection order against him.
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Oh my goodness!! Was she or other family aware that he sexual abused the relatives for years, even fathering a child with one?? I hope they look real closely at unsolved SAs and murders in the areas he's lived.
 
Christian Ferguson had a rare disorder that prevented his body from processing protein. He couldn’t walk or talk.

A probable cause statement says Dawan Ferguson failed to provide Christian with proper medication and nutrition for more than two years, before leaving home with the child on June 11, 2003. Christian was never seen again.

Court documents say he would have died within 48 hours without proper medication. When asked what led to charges to being filed in the case after so long, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell said the case had been reviewed and the charges were a result of a “fresh set of eyes” looking over evidence.

Investigators were reportedly interested in Dawan Ferguson from practically the very beginning of his son’s disappearance. Parts of his story were said to be inconsistent and he stopped cooperating with police. Christian Ferguson’s body has never been found and he is presumed to be dead.
www.kmov.com

Jury selection begins ahead of murder trial for man accused of killing Christian Ferguson

Jury selection began Wednesday in the murder trial of a father accused of killing his son.
www.kmov.com www.kmov.com
 
The body of a disabled 9-year-old St. Louis County boy who vanished 19 years ago has never been found.

Even so, prosecutors this week will try to persuade a jury that Dawan Ferguson murdered his son because the child's extensive medical needs interfered with Ferguson's unconventional lifestyle.
Opening statements are set to begin Monday in the first-degree murder trial of Ferguson, who was charged in 2019, more than 16 years after his son, Christian, disappeared. The boy has long been presumed dead.

Christian had a rare genetic disorder that prevented his body from processing protein, authorities have said. He couldn’t walk or talk and would have died within 48 hours without proper medication.
The morning of June 11, 2003, Dawan Ferguson left his home in Pine Lawn with Christian, and the boy was never seen again. Prosecutors allege that Ferguson, now 49, who had full custody of his son since 1998, failed to provide Christian with proper medical care and nutrition for 2½ years, ultimately causing his death.

At trial this week, prosecutors plan to present evidence that Christian's death resulted from his father's prolonged neglect of the boy's around-the-clock medical needs. Prosecutors say Christian's needs hindered Dawan Ferguson's polyamorous lifestyle that included an open marriage and intimate relationships with other women.

"He wanted to have these relationships outside his marriage and Christian interfered with that," Assistant Prosecutor John Schlesinger said in an evidentiary hearing last week. "Christian was an inconvenience to the defendant because of this lifestyle."
Jurors also will be allowed to consider an alternative charge: first-degree child abuse resulting in death.
www.stltoday.com

Murder trial to begin for father of St. Louis County boy missing since 2003

Dawan Ferguson is set to be tried in the presumed death of his 9-year-old son, Christian, who had a rare genetic disorder and disappeared in 2003.
www.stltoday.com www.stltoday.com
 
www.courttv.com

Court TV's Next Live Trial: Missouri v. Dawan Ferguson

www.courttv.com www.courttv.com

COURT TV'S NEXT LIVE TRIAL: MISSOURI V. DAWAN FERGUSON​

Opening statements begin Mon. June 27 in the Missing Son Murder Trial. Dawan Ferguson is charged in the death of his 9-year-old special needs son, Christian, who's been missing since 2003. His body was never found and he's presumed dead.
 
JerseyGirl said:
COVID’s impact on justice system: ‘It is a huge departure from how we try people’

Another St. Louis County case could bring answers in the decades-old missing person case of Christian Ferguson. The 9-year-old has been missing for 16 years. His father, Dawan Ferguson, faces two possible trials: one for murder and another for sexual assault. The judge and attorneys have worked through video conferencing to set one of the trials to be among the first out of the gate when juries return.
Click to expand...
Is there a law in MO relating to mandated reporters? I can't help but wonder why the home health agency did not follow up on the nurse's reports that the child was being neglected? What stopped them from advocating for this child?

In Florida, nurses are mandated reporters, and failure to report is a 3rd degree felony.
Are there legal ramifications in Missouri for a Home Health Agency for failing to relay the nurse's alarming reports to the Department of Children and Families? If not, why not? There certainly should be! This happens. A lot.
I am a retired nurse, and I understand the reluctance of the nurses to report the situation to the authorities, because there is no legal protection for the nurse, as far as I know. Reporting outside the agency will guarantee the loss of their job and most certainly make them vulnerable to lawsuit. That is a major deterrent, as I see it.
I welcome feedback, maybe someone could help me understand why the duty to report is not even discussed. Mom and her lawyer might need to ask why the Home Health Agency did not do the right thing for Christian before he was murdered by his father. I fervently hope they are no longer licensed to care for children in the state of Missouri.
RIP, little guy.

 
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