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One woman says her breaking point ended up being the break in a case involving multiple alleged victims of sexual assault at the hands of an O’Fallon, Missouri, chiropractor – and now authorities fear other victims may be out there.
She broke down at Frontier Health early last year. Another woman in the office comforted her. Through tears, they discovered they had experienced the same thing, according to St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar.
They went to the police. In all, four women who worked there described similar assaults involving Jacob Linkous between 2019 and 2020, according to court records. He’s now charged with 10 counts of sexual assault.
But Lohmar isn’t convinced the full story is out there – and neither are the alleged victims.
“There was a grooming period that went on with all of these victims,” Lohmar said. “So we have reason to believe this could have been going on much longer than anybody is aware of.”
Linkous’ attorney, John Davis, said he has not received all of the reports from Lohmar's office, so he did not want to comment before he could review them.
Linkous, 30, told police all of the sexual encounters were consensual and accused some of the alleged victims of sending him explicit photos of themselves, according to court records.
He worked at Frontier Health from 2018 to 2020. His license to practice in Missouri expired in February 2021.
Two months later, Linkous got a new license in Mississippi, and became the registered agent for a business called Integrative Healthcare. A secretary who answered the phone there said Linkous is currently seeing patients.
The business is listed in good standing, according to the Mississippi Secretary of State.
The alleged victims from O'Fallon declined to be interviewed for this story, but their attorney, Shannon Norman, spoke on their behalf.
“They want the public to know that that this individual victimized them and their concern is that there are other victims out there,” Norman said. “And they want to let those people know that they can come forward, and that they know how hard it is, but that they're not alone and that they can come forward and tell their story.
“Ultimately, these women just simply could not move forward, feeling safe in their community, knowing that he was out there doing this to other people.”
As difficult as it has been for the alleged victims to come forward, Norman said they all have appreciated the steps Frontier Health took following the allegations.
“They immediately removed him from the building, changed the locks, he was never allowed back into the building, and they have supported these victims all the way, and they want to support any other victims who should come forward,” Norman said.
Linkous was released January 10 after posting a $10,000 bail.
O’Fallon police are asking anyone with information about this investigation to call Sgt. Scott Pierce at 636-379-5646.
