SALEM, IL — Bail was set at $10,000 Tuesday for a 35-year-old St. Louis man charged in Marion County Court with obstructing justice after he was reportedly found in a Salem motel with a missing 15-year-old Salem girl. Courtney Montrell Buffkins was arrested after the  girl’s family alerted Salem police the girl was possibly at the Salem Super 8 Motel with a man from Missouri.

When officers arrived at the motel room, Buffkins reportedly gave them a fake name and claimed to have no ID. He was positively identified after police took him to the Marion County Jail. Buffkins pleaded guilty in October to Class 4 felony criminal sexual abuse in Cumberland County, Illinois, in exchange for a Class 2 felony charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse being dismissed. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in that case in January. He’s also facing felony charges in Coles County, Illinois,  for Class 1 criminal sexual assault and two counts Class 2 felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a juvenile victim 5 years younger than him.  

Buffkins is next scheduled to appear in Marion County Court December 7 for a preliminary hearing and a first appearance with his court appointed attorney.