5 years, 8 months ago by Jim Dewey
Alleged he tried to leave Monroe Co Jail while being booked on Child Molestation charges
A Hannibal man, being held in the Monroe County Jail on charges of molesting two different girls under 13, is now accused of trying to escape from there while he was being booked.
Marion County Prosecuting Attorney David Clayton said Friday that Robert Branch had been charged Thursday in Monroe County with Felony Attempted Escape from Custody. In a statement, Clayton says Branch was taken to the Monroe County jail after his arrest last Friday on the the most recent charges. Clayton says that's because of a conflict he has with the Marion county Sheriff's Department. A probable cause statement says that while Branch was being booked at the Monroe County Jail, he told a deputy "I'm not going to stay here for this". He then got up and started to run for an unsecured door. Branch was immediately caught, put in cuffs and taken to a booking room. If convicted on the attempted escape charge, Branch could serve up to four years in prison. He's already facing six counts of child molestation, and will be Marion County court on those charges later this month.
Branch is now being held on $110,000 cash-only bond.
