An employee at Lakeland Behavioral Health Center is in the Greene County Jail, accused of asking a teen patient to take nude pictures of herself using his cell phone.
Mark McMannamy, 42, is charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a class B felony under Missouri law.
He was arrested on Jan. 12 and remains in jail with a $50,000 open court only bond.
According to its website, Lakeland Behavioral Health Center is a psychiatric hospital and treatment center that specializes in care for children, teens and seniors. It is located at 440 S. Market Ave. in downtown Springfield.
It is not clear if McMannamy is still employed at Lakeland, what his position was or how long he'd been with the hospital. A representative from Lakeland has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Alleged victim is 15 years old, according to court documents
According to online court records, a different employee of Lakeland Behavioral Health reported to Springfield Police that a juvenile patient had come forward to report McMannamy asked her to take inappropriate photos of herself using a cell phone.
The juvenile, 15, told the employee she took McMannamy’s phone into a bathroom, took photos of her nude body and then gave the phone back to McMannamy.
In the investigating officer’s probable cause statement, the officer described viewing Lakeland’s security footage in which McMannamy and the girl could be seen going into a corner of a common room, looking at the security camera and then turning a corner slightly off camera. A short time later, the victim took what appeared to be a cell phone and tucked it into her clothes.
Security footage from another camera shows the victim entering a bathroom more than once after after the exchange with McMannamy, the officer wrote.
Accusation around favors
A Lakeland employee provided Springfield police with a written statement from the girl, in which she wrote that McMannamy asked for “nudes” multiple times, and promised a vape pen in return. The girls' statement also said McMannamy asked her to have sex with him, which she declined.
According to the probable cause statement, McMannamy admitted to a police officer that he asked the victim to take nude photographs using his cell phone.
“McMannamy said he went home after work and looked at the pictures,” the officer wrote. “McMannamy said once he was home, he realized he ‘did something wrong,’ so he deleted the pictures.”
McMannamy reportedly admitted he asked the victim to let him touch her, but she declined, the officer wrote.
The police officer noted in the report that McMannamy said he knew the girl was 15 and that “he knew juveniles admitted to Lakeland often had issues with past sexual assaults, and issues controlling their sexual behavior.”
McMannamy does not yet have an attorney, according to online court records. He is scheduled for a court hearing Wednesday, Jan. 24.
