Missouri man charged with raping young girl blames her for being 'sexually provocative'

Sept. 15--A convicted sex offender who spent eight years in prison is accused of raping an 11-year-old girl and abusing a 2-year-old girl over the last few weeks.

Police in Springfield, Mo., say two of the rapes happened last month in a room at Cox South Hospital, the Springfield News-Leader reports.

Dave Saffeels, 57, allegedly raped the 11-year-old girl twice at the hospital while she was visiting a patient who had just given birth to twins, according to police. He was reportedly visiting the same woman.

Saffeels -- who spent eight years in prison for sexually abusing a 6-year-old in 2002 -- and the girl ended up in the same hospital room together, alone.

Saffeels allegedly raped the girl three times, twice at the hospital and once when they were at an acquaintance's house, according to KY3 in Springfield.

Police arrested Saffeels on Friday during a traffic stop. He told police the 11-year-old girl was sexually provocative. She often wore short shorts and sat with her legs spread, he said, according to court documents.

He also said she once suggestively ate a popsicle in front of him.

The girl told police she didn't tell anyone about the rapes because she was scared.

"Children are just so afraid of what has happened to them," Brandi Bartel, executive director of The Victim Center, told KY3.

"And offenders typically use coercion and threats of violence or something could happen to somebody they love, for instance, that it terrifies children to tell and speak up about what's happened."

Cox spokeswoman Kaitlyn McConnell said the hospital did not know about the incidents when they happened.

"We are fully cooperating with the Springfield Police Department and are taking this matter seriously," McConnell told local media.

Saffeels is also charged with sexually abusing a 2-year-old girl last week.

According to court documents, Saffeels was at the child's home while the mother was taking a nap. Later, when the girl's father tried to give his daughter a bath, the toddler covered her groin area and cried "ouch" and "no."

The newspaper reports the mother told police she knew Saffeels was a registered sex offender.

Saffeels is charged with three counts of statutory rape, three counts of statutory sodomy and one count of child molestation. At last report he was in the Greene County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

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