Lawton man charged with 120 child sexual abuse counts

A Lawton man charged with 120 child sex abuse counts is in jail on $500,000 bond.

Jonathan Christian Palmer, 32, made his initial appearance Thursday in Comanche County District Court where he received 100 felony counts of first-degree rape of a victim under 14 and 20 counts of lewd molestation, records indicate. Each rape count is punishable by no less than five years in prison.

Lawton Police Detective Amelia Gorshing stated she received three separate reports of Palmer sexually abusing the now-10-year-old girl between January 2021 and Feb. 9. The girl told her mother about the abuse allegations.

The mother provided an audio recording of Palmer admitting to having sex with the girl and video of the girl telling her of his abuse, the probable cause affidavit states.

Palmer spoke with Gorshing on Feb. 13. After initially denying the allegations, he later admitted to having sex with the girl around 100 times with more times of lewd touching, beginning when she was 6-years-old, with the last incident happening Feb. 9, the affidavit states. He was arrested and booked into jail.

As part of Palmer’s bond conditions, he is to have no contact with the girl. He returns to court at 3 p.m. April 15 for his preliminary hearing conference, records indicate.