
Police are looking for a Columbia man after Richland County sheriff’s deputies say he sexually assaulted a 3-year-old girl he was babysitting.
Jason Jerome Rivers Jr., 21, is charged with criminal sexual conduct with a minor under age 11, sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Myers said Wednesday.
Doctors determined the girl was sexually assaulted after her mother took her to the emergency room at Palmetto Heath Richland on March 7.
Her mother had returned to her home off Fairfield Road, along with her boyfriend, about 6:30 p.m. and noticed something was wrong after looking at the child’s clothing.
The State newspaper does not generally identify victims of sexual assault.
“She thought she was leaving her child in good hands,” Myers said.
Rivers had been taking care of the child since January, deputies said.
Rivers is described as black, 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 140 pounds, deputies said.
He was sentenced to six months of house arrest May 30, 2006 after pleading guilty to assault, Richland County court records show.
In 2004, Rivers was arrested twice, charged with possession of marijuana and criminal sexual conduct with a minor age 11 to 14, but the outcome of those charges is unclear, State Law Enforcement Division records show.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (888) CRIME-SC.
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