A northwest Missouri man is facing a mandatory life sentence for child sexual abuse after he was found to be a predatory sexual offender.
A Platte County jury found 50-year-old Fentress Maurice Wilson of Riverside guilty Tuesday of first-degree statutory sodomy of an 8-year-old girl.
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After he was convicted, prosecutors presented testimony that Wilson had a decades-long history of sex crimes against children.
The Kansas City Star reports (http://bit.ly/1qxPuPd ) Missouri law allows prosecutors to cite previous acts of abuse only to increase punishment after a defendant has been found guilty.
Platte County Eric Zahnd is part of an effort to change the Missouri Constitution to allow prosecutors to tell jurors about a defendant’s prior sex offenses before they reach a verdict. The measure will appear on the November ballot.
