ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A Chesterfield movie theater manager was charged Tuesday with several child sex abuse crimes involving one of his employees.
St. Louis County prosecutors charged Joshua Jung of Ellisville with six counts of second-degree statutory sodomy and one count each of fourth-degree child molestation and second-degree statutory rape.
According to charging documents, the victim was less than 17 years old and worked at Marcus Chesterfield Cinema, where Jung was their manager. The victim came to the Chesterfield Police Department on Saturday and reported engaging in sexual acts with Jung between April and August 2024.
The incidents occurred at Bluebird Park in Ellisville and at the theater where they worked, charging documents said.
After a joint investigation by Chesterfield and Ellisville police, Jung was arrested Tuesday as he was leaving his home, Ellisville Assistant Police Chief Andrew Vaughn said. He was being held on a $500,000 bond.
"All of our thoughts are with the victim and family as they navigate forward," Vaughn said in a news release.
Amy Robins is with the Children's Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis.
“Typically, abuse starts with looking for a vulnerable child that they can build that relationship with,” Robins said. “... What we need to be aware of though is perpetrators who embed themselves or put themselves in situations or environments where they can find kids to target or take advantage of."
People getting ready to watch a movie Wednesday evening at Marcus Chesterfield Cinema said they were disgusted by the allegations.
“It’s terrible,” said one concerned mother.
“It’s alarming. It’s disheartening because it’s a lot of teenagers who work at the movie theater," said another mother.
“It’s just so disturbing,” said Missy Jones.
While Vaughn said police had "no concrete evidence" of any additional victims, he asked anyone with information on this incident or any other incident involving Jung to call Ellisville or Chesterfield police.