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A former Washington County resident was seen in court on Friday afternoon on four felony counts of child sexual abuse and one felony count of sexual abuse.  

42-year-old Thomas Faris, of Grove, is accused of committing these crimes in Washington County beginning in 2015 when the victim was five years old. The most recent crime allegedly occurred in March of this year.

A probable cause affidavit states that the victim’s sister found some explicit photographs when looking through Faris’ phone. A search warrant was then conducted on the defendant’s phone.

During a forensic interview, the victim said Faris would inappropriately touch her and commit other sexual acts in Faris’ bedroom with the door locked.

The victim’s younger sibling, who was a witness to these alleged crimes, was also interviewed. The younger sibling corroborated the statements from the victim, saying that the victim would sleep in Faris’ bedroom.

District Attorney Will Drake requested a $150,000 bond. Faris’ attorney, Mark Kane, requested the bond be lowered to $50,000, citing no previous felony convictions. Special Judge Jared Sigler denied the request, citing the seriousness of the allegations. He will next be seen in court on Friday, June 21^st.