Photo:Nelson Blake
Boone County authorities have made an arrest in connection with a investigation that began last October regarding suspected child abuse.
According to the probable cause affidavit, 54-year-old Nelson Blake has been charged with four counts of rape, a Class Y felony, and one count of sexual assault in the first-degreee, a Class A felony. The online log at the Boone County jail notes Blake is a resident of Gainesville.
Two of Blake’s alleged victims are identified as 6- and 8-year-olds, with the reported incidents occurring while he and his girlfriend were babysitting the two children.
After interviews with the two alleged victims in October, authorities attempted to locate Nelson but were unsuccessful due to not having a current contact number or address. In early November, investigators believed they had obtained a current address for Nelson but learned he had moved to Missouri.
As the investigation continued, authorities made contact with a woman who told them she had been friend’s with Nelson’s girlfriend at one time. The woman told investigators Nelson and his girlfriend used to babysit for her children.
The woman said she did not allow the children to return to Nelson’s residence, because they “would come home with bite marks.” She also said the children had asked to not be sent back to Nelson’s home.
The woman agreed for her two children to be interviewed at Grandma’s House Children’s Advocacy Center in Harrison.
In an early December interview with a 9-year-old victim, the child said she was “scared to say anything because Nelson told her he would kill her.”
The victim said during one encounter with Blake she was shut in a bathroom. She said she tried to scream, but Nelson covered her mouth with his hand. The child saId she bit Nelson’s finger, and he stomped on her foot, and it burned.
When investigators made contact with Nelson, he agreed to an interview at the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.
Nelson denied knowing the alleged victims. However, he allegedly said he has been accused of these types of crimes in the past, but has never done anything to a minor.
Nelson is being held on a bond of $100,000.
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