April 29, 2008 12:31 am
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By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
A former crossing guard and a former janitor at the same Joplin grade school were sentenced Monday to prison terms in separate cases involving sexual abuse of children.
Richard Dean Sandefer, 60, formerly a crossing guard at West Central Elementary School, was assessed two prison terms of 20 years at a hearing in Jasper County Circuit Court.
Sandefer sexually abused a 6-year-old girl, took explicit photographs of her and showed them to two other children, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed by Joplin police. His crimes came to light in February of last year when his wife discovered pornographic pictures of the girl and alerted authorities.
Sandefer pleaded guilty in March to charges of first-degree statutory sodomy and sexual exploitation of a minor in a plea agreement with the county prosecutor’s office that dismissed two other felony charges he was facing in the case.
Both convictions carry from 10 to 30 years, and up to life, in prison. His sentences will run concurrently.
Troy Y. Martinie, 47, at one time a janitor at West Central Elementary, was sentenced to four years in prison for sexually molesting a 14-year-old girl in February of last year.
Martinie pleaded guilty in March to second-degree statutory sodomy in a plea agreement limiting the prison time he might be required to serve to no more than four years.
The two cases came to light in successive weeks in February of last year.
In both cases, the allegations concerned acts that took place off school property. Sandefer’s crimes were committed while he was off duty, and he had not become acquainted with the girl through his job as a crossing guard. Martinie was no longer working at the school at the time of his offense.
The cases nonetheless raised questions about the adequacy of the school district’s criminal-background checks. Superintendent Jim Simpson said background checks are conducted on all school employees by both the FBI and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and they had turned up no record of criminal offenses for either defendant.
Martinie molested his victim while playing a video game with her at her home in rural Jasper County. The girl alleged that he began rubbing her injured knee, and she asked him to stop because it made her uncomfortable. He then put his hands under her clothing and touched her inappropriately.
After she pushed him away and told him to get out of her room, he came back and asked for “a second chance” with her, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed by a Jasper County sheriff’s deputy. He finally left her alone when she threatened to scream, the affidavit states. The girl called her father to tell him what had happened, the affidavit states.
Judge
Judge David Dally sentenced both men in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin.
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