Dad finds intruder in his young daughter’s bedroom in suburban KC. Man charged
A former St. Joseph man allegedly broke into a suburban Kansas City home late Wednesday and was caught in the bedroom of the homeowners’ young daughter, according to a police spokesman.
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office has charged Robert Michael McDowell III, who has no permanent address, with one count of first-degree burglary for allegedly breaking into the home and two counts of possessing child sex abuse materials found on his phone afterward, according to court documents.
The charges stem from a break-in at a home in the 1100 block of Southeast 11th Street in Lee’s Summit, said Sgt. Chris Depue with the Lee’s Summit Police Department.
Officers responded to a reported burglary in progress at around 11 p.m. Wednesday, Depue said. A caller told arriving officers that they had located a prowler inside a child’s bedroom in the home and that they were detaining him.
Officers quickly entered the home and took the man, later identified as McDowell, into custody, Depue said.
Home invader found in daughter’s bedroom
A preliminary investigation revealed that McDowell allegedly broke into a back door before being found in the child’s room, Depue said.
The homeowner reported that no one inside the home was injured. McDowell, however, had minor injuries and was treated and released at a local hospital.
According to court documents, the father told police that he and his wife were in their bedroom when they heard a noise from down the hall.
The father said he believed it was his son, so he got up to check. As he approached his daughter’s bedroom, he noticed the door was open. He considered it odd because the family sleeps with bedroom doors shut, according to court documents.
When the father entered the bedroom, he said he saw McDowell standing in front of his daughter’s bunk bed with a hand on the bed. The father grabbed McDowell and struck him several times while his wife called police. The daughter was asleep in her bed while everything was going on, according to court documents.
Man arrested after break in
Arriving officers took McDowell outside and had him sit on a pallet in the driveway. An officer asked McDowell what had happened and if he knew where he was. McDowell allegedly answered that he was in Independence and, a short time later, said Lee’s Summit.
McDowell also allegedly admitted to using methamphetamine three days earlier, according to court documents.
Investigators were attempting to determine if McDowell was intoxicated or impaired during the incident, Depue said.
An officer canvassed the neighborhood and one person said an unknown person had tried to open a door to her backyard about 30 minutes earlier, but her dog scared the person off. Another neighbor said an unknown person tried to open his back door as well, according to court documents.
While officers were there, they allegedly found a cell phone belonging to McDowell in the girl’s bedroom. A detective, after receiving a warrant, later searched the phone and found child sex abuse images.
McDowell was being held in the Jackson County jail on an $80,000 bond.
