Questions Remain As Quincy Man Charged For Endangering the Welfare of A Child

A Quincy man has been charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child-1st Degree, First Offense, No Sexual Contact after a bizarre string of events led officers to discover an injured, underage female in his motel room.

According to court documents, Jacob Michael Almeter, 27, of Quincy, Illinois was charged with the Class D Felony on Tuesday, June 6.

Court documents state that on Monday morning, June 5, Shelbina Police Sgt. R. Seiner was responding to a report of a vehicle accident on County Road 443 at about 10:40am. While en route, he received a cell phone call from Almeter, who identified himself as the owner of the vehicle, and that he had received information from a friend that his vehicle had been wrecked.

When Seiner met Almeter at the America’s Best Value Inn in Hwy. 15 in Shelbina, he noted a strong odor of intoxicants on Almeter, who said he had spent the prior evening in Shelbyville, and a friend borrowed the vehicle. Almeter guided Seiner to the accident scene, expressing that he had no involvement in the accident. Almeter further stated that the suspects had fled the area en route to Macon, and provided a description of the vehicle.

At about 10:50am, Seiner was informed an injured female had been located in a hotel room, and was possibly involved in an accident. When Seiner informed other officers, Almeter expressed that he was aware of the female. When asked, he described her injuries and stated she was underage and had consumed intoxicants. Almeter stated he did not disclose the information sooner because she was underage and he did not want to get into trouble.

At about 10:55, Seiner and Deputy Ehrenreich located a juvenile female with a severe head injury lying on a bed in Room 115 of the motel. Her head, face and chest were covered with blood, and she was wearing only a bra and panties.

An ambulance was called, and she was transported to Blessing Hospital in Quincy.

While in the room, Seiner observed several containers of alcohol. Upon investigation, he learned Almeter had checked into the motel at about 2:00am, and paid cash for Room 115.

At about 5:00pm that evening, Seiner made contact with the juvenile at Blessing Hospital. She stated that she had met Almeter on social media, and the two had in-person contact in the past. She told Seiner that she was alone with Almeter in the motel room at about 3:00am, when she became very sleepy. She was unable to add anything further.

In Seiner’s report to the Prosecuting Attorney, he noted that Almeter’s criminal history report shows two active warrants in Missouri for traffic offenses, where he is listed as “armed and dangerous”. Almeter also has multiple protection orders against him, and has been arrested for violating a protection order in Quincy.

Many questions remain unanswered in this incident. The investigation is ongoing, and we will report more as information is available.

Almeter is being held in the Shelby County Jail on a $20,000 cash only bond. On Monday, June 12, Judge Mike Greenwell denied a motion for bond reduction.

A Class D Felony is punishable by imprisonment of up to seven year, or a fine of up to $10,000. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.