A counsel status hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. today at the Moniteau County Courthouse for 21-year-old Ernest A. Blair Jr.

Blair faces multiple serious charges, including statutory rape, 29 counts of child pornography possession, and first-degree making terroristic threats.

The hearing is in regard to his statutory rape case.

The charges stem from investigations that began in early 2025.

The child pornography charges were added after a search of his phone following his April 2025 arrest for statutory rape.

The terroristic threat charge relates to a November 2024 incident where he allegedly called in a false gun threat to Eldon High School at the request of a student.