A former Carthage resident was assessed a suspended sentence on a conviction for failing to register with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department as a convicted sex offender.
Matthew J. Reed, 25, pleaded guilty to the charge Jan. 4 in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin in a plea agreement with the county prosecutor’s office that limited the prison time he might be assessed to no more than three years. Circuit Judge Gayle Crane assessed the defendant three years at a sentencing hearing March 1, but suspended execution of the sentence and placed Reed on probation for five years.
Court documents state that Reed was convicted of a sexual assault on a 17-year-old girl on Feb. 21, 2006, in Carthage. The conviction requires that he register as a sex offender in the county in which he resides. A probable-cause affidavit filed by a sheriff’s deputy on Sept. 22 of last year stated that Reed had failed to update his registration, and the Sheriff’s Department was uncertain where he was living.
