Work From Home

****WARNING**** The details of this story are graphic and may provide disturbing information for readers Investigators continue to search for evidence in cases involving child sexual crimes that span nearly two decades in a small Johnson County, Missouri town.Prosecutors have charged Gregory D. Arnold, 56, with three felony counts of first-degree statutory sodomy.Yvonne P. Arnold, 55, is also charged with one felony count of first-degree statutory sodomy.Both are in the Johnson County, Missouri, jail after their arrest earlier this month. A judge has denied bond in their cases.The details of their criminal cases extremely graphic and disturbing, even to investigators.Prosecutors say Gregory Arnold committed sexual crimes against two children in two of the familys homes in Chilhowee, potentially dating back to 2005. They also alleged in court documents Yvonne Howard sodomized a child in 2012.The Arnolds home along Cedar Avenue in Chilhowee is blocked by a high privacy fence. It is barricaded with trees, brush, and rocks. KMBC 9 Investigates could see chicken wire covering multiple windows at the home.PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS QUESTIONED BY NEIGHBORSNeighbors also told KMBC they question on the scope of previous investigations by childrens division and law enforcement, especially after young child came forward to Johnson County sheriffs investigators in May of 2020 about potential crimes committed in the home by Gregory Arnold.Court documents say Johnson County Sheriffs office took a 13-page victim statement on May 27, 2020, after a child came forward to investigators about sexual encounters with Arnold.Johnson County, Mo. sheriffs Lt. Jeff Parsons told KMBC 9 Investigates the department, in general, cannot move forward to prosecutors with cases without enough evidence.In all investigations, you go with what you know, he said. And if you’re not aware of things at the time, you can’t move forward. KMBC asked if the department applied for any search warrants in the case in 2020. Parson said he was limited on what else he could share due to the nature of the current investigation.Obviously, were in a position in the case, now the disclosures that are placed in the probable cause statement, that there was enough to move forward with this case, he said. If we didnt have that back then, that would be the reason why we didnt move forward.Parsons also said with the new information in the probable cause statement, it prompted the department reopen the 2020 investigation. Court documents say Johnson County childrens division workers attempted contact with the Arnolds multiple occasions since 2020, but never got a response or access to the see children at the home.A representative for the division told KMBC 9 Investigates they couldn’t comment about the investigation. The documents also allege children living at the home had no access to the outside world, did not attend school, or see medical professionals. They should have took the kids away from them, said neighbor Bob Gardner. Gardner says he saw children’s division workers at the home, having contact with the Arnolds. But children remained in the home. Next door neighbor Norma Atkinson says the family kept to themselves and stayed barricaded on their property. She said she saw children at the home, but they never spoke to her. Makes you want to cry for the kids, she said. It’s a crying shame. Somebody should have been doing something.Authorities are still looking for tips in the case. KMBC is also going to keep working on the case, too. If you have any tips, email investigates@kmbc.com.