JOPLIN (MO)
The Joplin Globe
August 6, 2018
By Jeff Lehr
More charges expected in alleged molestation of church youth
A Joplin man is being held on charges that he sexually abused three boys he knew through his involvement with a church in Miami, Oklahoma.
Matthew D. Galati, 29, was arrested last week when information first surfaced regarding disclosures made by three male members of a youth group at the New Beginnings Life Church In Miami. Joplin police Capt. Trevor Duncan said interviews of the boys were conducted at the Children’s Center in Joplin, leading to the filing of charges Thursday by the Jasper County prosecutor’s office.
Galati is charged with four counts of statutory sodomy with a child under 12 years old and two counts of second-degree statutory sodomy in connection with acts committed in Jasper County. But additional victims have been identified and more charges are anticipated, according to Duncan.
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