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Former cop charged with giving teen alcohol

Former Neosho police officer Justin Keith Pickup was charged Thursday with endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree by supplying alcohol to a 16-year-old girl, according to a release by the Missouri attorney general's office.

The girl, Kassie Schenck, died of injuries from a motor vehicle crash that occurred on the day after Pickup allegedly purchased a pint bottle of vodka and gave it to her.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the charge in Newton County Circuit Court, Schenck's blood alcohol content level was .12 after the crash in the early morning hours of Dec. 21, 2006.

The charge was filed by the office of the Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, who was appointed by the court to determine if charges should be filed and to prosecute any ensuing charges.

The prosecuting attorney of Newton County recused himself from the matter because of a conflict of interest.

Endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor, punishable up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.