A 40-year-old Columbus man faces two Level 4 felonies in Brown County after after a girl reported he had inappropriate contact with her twice.

Jeffrey Batton was formally charged on Feb. 5 with two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor.

On Jan. 26, Det. Brian Shrader with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department responded to Johnson Memorial Hospital after the minor had reported being raped. She told Shrader that Batton had inappropriately touched her twice.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the victim immediately told her grandfather that she had been assaulted after the second occurrence.

The victim’s mother told police that Batton also had allegedly touched other juveniles in the past.

Shrader went to the place where the incident happened and spoke with people who were there at the time. He noted that Batton’s mother’s story of what happened was different than anyone else’s, including Batton’s.

The victim’s grandfather told police that she had come running to him, shaking and crying. Family members told police that the victim is a straight-A student and would not make something like this up.

The victim’s siblings were in the room sleeping when the incidents happened. One of the siblings called their mother because she knew something wasn’t right after seeing the victim run to her grandfather.

Shrader spoke with Batton at his home in Columbus. He told Shrader he loved the victim and that she loved him. He denied doing anything inappropriate. He told police that the victim and her siblings were jealous of his family.

Shrader received a copy of a report from 2016 from when Batton was last accused of a previous molestation. He reported seeing similarities in that report and this investigation.

One of the victim’s siblings reported that that evening, the victim had scooted over to let Batton sit near her while they were watching a movie. She said that he tried to rub the victim’s feet and she told him to stop, the affidavit states.

The sibling said she fell asleep and woke up to the victim crying. She said Batton’s face became red when the victim began telling the grandfather what happened. The sibling said that Batton would often hug her and the victim, but that he would hug the victim for a longer period of time, which she felt was weird, according to the affidavit.

Shrader collected mouth swabs for DNA testing from Batton. In a second interview with police, Batton continued to deny touching the victim or molesting her.

Batton is being held in the Brown County jail on $60,000 bond. It was reduced from $250,000 after a hearing on Feb. 14. If released on bail, Batton is to have no contact with the victim or her family.

A trial by jury has been preliminarily set for Wednesday, April 1 at 8 a.m.