BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — A 43-year-old Blue Springs man was charged with sodomy and child molestation Friday morning in Jackson County Circuit Court after two girls on the soccer team he coaches accused him of touching them where he shouldn’t have.
The girls, ages 11 and 12, say Richard Burroughs sexually molested them when they were at his house on separate occasions. The 12-year-old says it occurred during a sleep-over with his daughter, who is also on their soccer team. The 11-year-old says it occurred when she was at his house for an end-of-season soccer party.
According to the probable cause statement, the 12-year-old girl told police Burroughs came into his daughter’s bedroom where she and his daughter were staying and touched her when he thought she was asleep. She says she woke up the next morning and told the daughter, who suggested she must have dreamed it. This allegedly occurred in October or November.
The 11-year-old told police she was at the computer at Burroughs’ house when he approached her, telling her he wanted to show her something on the computer. She says he rubbed his arm slowly down her chest.
The two alleged victims spent the night together on New Year’s Eve, shared their stories and then decided to tell the school counselor.
During the police interview, Burroughs explained he covered the girls with a blanket in the middle of the night when the 12-year-old friend was sleeping over, but said his hand did not roam anywhere it shouldn’t. When asked by police if they could look at his computer, Burroughs said he should consult an attorney.
The mother of the 12-year-old girl says Burroughs has been coaching her daughter’s soccer team for four or five years and also coaches her softball team.