Dennis L. Daugherty Jr.

A Wood River man has been charged with deceptive practice after police investigated a golf tournament he hosted Sept. 27 at a Columbia golf course.

Dennis L. Daugherty Jr., 45, organized the tournament at River Lakes Golf Course, 2218 Ramsey Road, which he advertised on flyers as a Make-A-Wish Foundation fundraiser, according to information released by Columbia police. When contacted by Columbia detectives, Make-A-Wish representatives indicated the charity was not affiliated with the event and they had not received any proceeds from it.

A tournament attendee sent lewd photographs of women at the tournament performing sexual acts with men, allegedly for money, to Channel 4 News and later to Columbia police. Following an investigation, Daugherty was arrested and charged with deceptive practice.

Columbia police are also in the process of attempting to locate the men and women in the pictures from the Sept. 27 event to investigate conduct at the tournament and may seek additional charges.

In a Facebook post, Daugherty stated that he simply had “cute girls in bikinis serving drinks” at this tournament but a few of the girls “got out of hand.”

Daugherty added that his tournament was originally supposed to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation but he failed to fill out the proper paperwork, so the organization asked him not to use their name.

Columbia Police Chief Jerry Paul said three officers responded to the golf course to investigate a possible report of lewd conduct about 1 p.m. that day. The officers rode around in golf carts and did not observe any such behavior at that time. The tourney started at 10 a.m., however, so Paul said it was entirely possible the behavior in question had happened prior to police arrival.

The event organizers were advised by police at that time that lewd behavior would not be tolerated, Paul said.

Regarding the identification of women and men who may have engaged in the lewd conduct, Paul said his department is “making headway” and continues to investigate the matter.