NIXA, Mo.—A man who was featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted” three years ago for sexually assaulting a girl in Colorado has been charged with felony child molestation of a Nixa girl.
Christian County Prosecutor Ron Kleek said Eric Dahlman, 45, has been on the run since 2000, when he fled Lupton, Colo., after his 12-year-old stepdaughter told sheriff’s deputies that Dahlman sexually assaulted her. Charges were filed, but he fled before being arrested.
In 2005, he was featured on the Fox TV program.
Dahlman was being held Wednesday on $350,000 bond on the Nixa charges. A preliminary hearing has been set for July 7 in Christian County Circuit Court.
“(Dahlman) has a $25,000 bond in Colorado,” Kleek said. “He’s waived extradition back to Colorado, but he’ll sit here until we get ours (case) tried.”
Dahlman’s public defenders have asked for a bond reduction, but prosecutors have opposed.
A Nixa mother reported in late May that her daughter may have been molested by a man named Eric Hinchley, said the arresting officer, Detective John Huff of the Nixa Police Department.
“The arrest was delayed because Dahlman had made threats against the girl and her mother,” Huff said. “We completed an interview with the girl and she came forth with allegations.”
Her mother provided the man’s name, which was an alias, his Social Security number and date of birth.
“I researched that but couldn’t find anybody,” Huff said. “The mother said she sort of suspected it because (Dahlman) had told some pretty wild tales.”
Huff said he contacted a friend of Dahlman’s and was able to get Dahlman to come to a location in Nixa on Monday.
“He gave the phony name,” Huff said. “He was interviewed, arrested on the local charges and taken to police headquarters. Once I arrested him, I knew we’d find out who he really was.”
After Dahlman was fingerprinted, investigators discovered the Colorado charges, Huff said.
“We got another dangerous one off the streets,” Huff said. “He won’t hurt another little girl.”
Investigators said Dahlman had been living in Nixa for about four years.
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Information from: Springfield News-Leader,
