By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
COLUMBUS, Kan. — A former children’s gymnastics instructor will be sentenced Sept. 16 after pleading no contest on Monday to a felony child-sex charge and guilty to a felony charge of failure to register as a sex offender.
Glenn Keeton, 43, of rural Riverton, was found guilty on the charges by Judge David Rogers, from Wilson County. The pleas were part of a plea agreement between Keeton’s attorney, Gene Barrett, and Nola Wright, an assistant Kansas attorney general. The deal came about as a jury was about to be selected for Keeton’s trial.
Keeton pleaded no contest to a charge of lewd and lascivious behavior in the presence of a child. He was found guilty of intentionally exposing himself to a 12-year-old girl on May 27, 2007, at his house. A charge of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, alleging that Keeton engaged in lewd fondling or touching of the girl, was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Three of four felony charges of failing to register as a sex offender were dismissed after Keeton pleaded guilty to one of the counts. He has a 1993 conviction in California for committing a lewd action with a 10-year-old child by force.
According to Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton, Keeton was not on a public registry because his California conviction happened before Kansas adopted its registry, but Keeton still was required to register in the county where he lives or works.
The victim testified at Keeton’s preliminary hearing in March that as she approached Keeton’s house to retrieve keys on May 27, 2007, she saw a naked Keeton from behind through a window of the house. After he had dressed, she went inside, where they watched a digital video disc. She said Keeton was wearing shorts without underwear and was exposing himself to some degree.
Later, she said, she unknowingly chose a DVD showing a man and woman engaged in sex acts. She said that as she prepared to leave, she felt Keeton’s penis through his shorts touching her knee. She said Keeton told her not to tell anyone about what had happened.
Under questioning by Barrett, she said different people could interpret Keeton’s actions as either improper or innocent, and that she was unsure of his intentions. She said they had no conversations of a sexual nature.
Background
Glenn Keeton was arrested June 19, 2007, at Glenn’s Ready Set Go Gym in Pittsburg, which he owned and where he taught gymnastics to children. Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton at the time said parents of children at the gym disregarded his warnings about Keeton.
Local News
Former gymnastics instructor pleads guilty
- Local News
-
-
City wants to buy weather radios for those without
Phil Jones had been working on a construction project outside his house all day on May 22 and was unaware that a tornado watch had been issued. Once he was inside, though, his weather radio went off, and he learned that a warning had been issued.
-
Architects present preliminary JHS plans at community meeting
Reaction appeared mostly supportive Thursday night among the roughly 50 people who attended a community meeting at which architects presented their preliminary site plans for the future combined Joplin High School and Franklin Technology Center.
-
Confessed shooter testifies against co-defendants in Pittsburg murder case
Rickey Smith testified Thursday that as he came in the back door of Ryan Bailey’s home in Pittsburg with a 9 mm pistol in his hand, Bailey looked up from the couch in his living room.
-
School district’s proposed street-closing plan questioned
Plans to close some streets near the proposed Joplin High School drew questions, including a challenge from a former Joplin mayor, during a public hearing this week.
-
Neosho council approves new golf cart contract
The purchase of golf carts was back on the agenda this week for the Neosho City Council. City Attorney Steve Hays said there were errors in the financing terms that were part of a bid approved last month for the purchase of 55 gas-powered carts from E-Z-Go for $144,195, so the purchase of a new fleet was rebid.
-
Mike Pound: Spirit of competition evident during double-overtime game
When I played basketball in high school, I played in several very close games.
Now, some people who may have known me in high school are probably laughing right now and saying, “What Mike meant to say is that when he was in high school, he came very close to playing in some games.” -
Mo. optometrist filed $40 million refund claim
A southwest Missouri optometrist who filed a tax return claiming a $40 million refund has been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.
-
Okla. receives waiver from No Child Left Behind
Oklahoma’s top education official reacted with glee Thursday with the announcement that the state is one of 10 states being granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law that requires students be proficient in reading and math by 2014 — but focused on getting students to “just pass the tests.”
-
Kan. House approves bipartisan redistricting bill
Power in the Kansas House is likely to shift next year from rural parts of the state to the Kansas City area after members overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill Thursday for redrawing their districts.
-
Fugitive in 1993 British heist arrested in Ozark
A man suspected of stealing about $1.5 million from a security van in England in 1993 has been arrested in southwest Missouri.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
