JOPLIN, Mo. —
A Carthage man avoided trial by accepting a plea offer Tuesday in a child sexual abuse case in Jasper County Circuit Court.
Myron P. Colwell, 24, was scheduled for a jury trial on two Class B felony counts of first-degree child molestation. Class B felonies carry from five to 15 years in prison.
The defendant instead pleaded guilty to two Class C felony counts of deviate sexual assault in a plea agreement with the Jasper County prosecutor’s office. Under terms of the deal, the prison time Colwell might receive would be limited to three years on each count with the terms to run concurrent.
Circuit Judge Gayle Crane delayed formal acceptance or rejection of the plea deal and ordered the completion of a sentencing-assessment report on the defendant. The judge set Colwell’s sentencing hearing for Nov. 5.
Probable-cause affidavits alleged that Colwell sexually abused a girl under the age of 12 on more than one occasion in 2006 and 2007, and that he exposed himself repeatedly to two girls under the age of 12 in 2009 and 2010 and sexually abused one of them.
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