By Jeff Lehr

jlehr@joplinglobe.com

A 21-year-old man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday for sexually abusing a girl under the age of 14 in Joplin more than two years ago.

Eddie J. McCumber Jr., of Galena, Kan., entered an Alford plea in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin to one of two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy that he was facing in connection with the girl. An Alford plea admits no guilt but acknowledges that the evidence against him is likely to produce a conviction if the matter were to go to trial.

The defendant entered the plea in accordance with a plea agreement reached with the Jasper County prosecutor’s office. Assistant Prosecutor John Nicholas said the agreement dismissed the second count McCumber was facing and limited the prison time he would be required to serve to 15 years.

First-degree statutory sodomy can carry from five to 30 years, or up to life, in prison in Missouri.

The defendant waived his right to a sentencing-assessment report as part of the agreement, and Circuit Judge David Mouton then assessed him the agreed-upon prison term.

McCumber was 19 when the offense took place at a home in Joplin. The victim in the case never had to testify against him. The defendant waived his right to a preliminary hearing in August of last year.

A probable-cause affidavit filed by the Joplin Police Department in 2007 states that between December of 2006 and January of 2007 McCumber inappropriately touched the victim.

In a separate child-sexual abuse case in Mouton’s courtroom on Friday, Randall E. Daugherty, 70, 2028 S. Mississippi Ave., pleaded guilty to first-degree statutory sodomy, Daugherty’s case involves a girl under the age of 12.

Daugherty changed his plea to guilty in a plea agreement with the prosecutor’s office that also would limit the prison time he might serve to 15 years. The judge ordered the completion of a sentencing-assessment report in Daugherty’s case and set the sentencing for Oct. 9.

A probable-cause affidavit filed by Joplin police in October of last year states that Daugherty sexually abused the girl in 1999 when she was 7. The defendant acknowledged the abuse in court on Friday but told the judge that he believes it took place a couple years later than 1999. But he acknowledged that in either case, the girl was under the age of 12.