A Webb City man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday for having sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl three years ago.
Steven R. McClearen, 29, pleaded guilty Oct. 20 in Jasper County Circuit Court to first-degree statutory sodomy in a plea agreement with the county prosecutor’s office.
The agreement limited the prison time he might be required to serve to no more than 10 years. A conviction for first-degree statutory sodomy carries a minimum of 10 years and up to 30 years or life in prison in Missouri.
McClearen’s attorney, public defender Maleia Cheney, asked the court to consider granting her client a suspended sentence. She pointed out that he had not committed any offenses since his arrest almost three-and-a-half years ago and testing that scored him at relatively low risk to re-offend.
Cheney said McClearen and his wife recently have a new baby, and his wife and child need him to help support them.
But Circuit Judge David Mouton agreed with the prosecutor’s office that the nature of the crime was too serious not to warrant a prison sentence.
A probable-cause affidavit filed in the case states that McClearen had deviate sexual intercourse with his victim in 2005.
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<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/courts.gif " border=0> Man pleads guilty to first-degree sodomy
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