Man admits feeding meth to 8-year-old and having sex with her in a motel

Police in Missouri have said that a man in their custody admitted to engaging in sex acts with an eight-year-old girl and giving the child methamphethamine by rolling it in toilet paper and feeding it to her.

Washington, Missouri Police Department said that 48-year-old Brett Pendleton rented a room at the city's American Inn on 1 January with a female juvenile.

Police said that the child's mother made contact with Pendleton and the child in the evening and while there the child took her to the bathroom to privately tell her that Pendleton had made her engage in several sex acts, fearing that he had hurt her.

The child also told her mother that Pendleton had made her eat methamphetamines, smoke marijuana and smoke cigarettes, according to police.

After taking the child to Mercy Hospital, the mother filed a police report. Pendleton left the motel as police arrived, authorities said, and was taken into custody during a traffic stop.

Washington Police said that search warrants executed on the motel room and Pendleton's car uncovered evidence that corroborated the victim's statements. Pendleton was interviewed at the police headquarters and admitted sexual contact with the child.

"Pendleton also admitted to intentionally giving the female juvenile methamphetamine by rolling it in toilet paper and feeding it to her," the police department said in a press release.

Pendleton was arrested and charged with one count of statutory sodomy or attempted statutory sodomy deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 12 years old, and one count of endangering the welfare of a child creating substantial risk. He has been jailed on a $250,000 cash-only bond.