A 57-year-old Albany, Missouri man appeared in Buchanan County Court Thursday to face the first of at least four criminal cases involving allegations of sexual abuse of children three decades ago.

An investigator for the Missouri State Highway Patrol says so far they’ve identified six victims across Northwest Missouri who say they have been abused by Lewis Marshall. As we reported, Marshall also faces similar charges in Worth and Caldwell counties.

On Thursday, Marshall was bound over for trial in Buchanan County on one count of sodomy and one count of sexual abuse. The victim, now 31 years old, was five and eight years old when the alleged crimes took place. During a preliminary hearing, the victim said Marshall gave him alcohol back in 1990 and later sexually abused him. He described a similar incident three years later. In both cases, the victim said Marshall told him if he told anybody, he’d die.

Associate Judge Keith Marquart certified the case for circuit court and scheduled arraignment July 27 at 8:30 am before Judge Daniel Kellogg.

Special Public Defender Rose Briscoe filed a motion to set bond in the case, but told the judge that the most Marshall would be able to pay would be about $1,000. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kate Schaefer told the judge that bail is either $50,000 or $100,000 in the other three cases filed against Marshall so far. The high bond amounts set in the other cases figured prominently in Judge Marquart’s decision not to set bail in Buchanan County. But he also pointed out there has been no evidence presented to him that the defendant is not a danger to the community. Marquart rejected the bond motion.