BENTON, Mo. — After a two days of testimony, a Scott County jury on Thursday found a Benton man guilty of statutory sodomy and child pornography charges.
Clayton Counts, 69, was convicted of three counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of felon in possession of a firearm. Judge David Dolan presided over the jury trial. The State of Missouri was represented by Scott County Prosecutor Paul R. Boyd and Assistant Prosecutor Tabatha Blakely.
The jury was out approximately one hour and 12 minutes before returning guilty verdicts on all of the charges, according to Boyd.
Counts was charged with the three counts of statutory rape of a child under the age of 14 that occurred between July 1, 1997, and Nov. 21, 1997, in Scott County. Counts was also convicted as a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of one still image of child pornography based on a search warrant executed at his home on Jan. 26, 2016, by the Scott County Sheriff’s Department.
Former Scott County deputies Branden Caid and Barry Morgan were the main investigators in the case and testified at the trial. Former Deputy Jeff Schmitt also testified at the trial for the state along with the victim; two previous victims of Counts; Dr. David Dahlbeck of Ferguson Medical Group; Kendra Eads of the Network Against Sexual Violence; Harriet Adkisson of Susanna Wesley Women’s Shelter; Jean Bollinger and Traci Bollinger who were local teachers; and CPT Stausing from Scott County Sheriff’s Department.
“This was a team effort across multiple disciplines to pull all the information in on a prosecution that spanned over 40 years in time,” Boyd said.
This case was the first case in Scott County to use Missouri’s new propensity instruction to assist the state in corroborating the victim’s testimony regarding sexual assault. In this instance, Counts had pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault of minors in the state of Florida in 1988. The prior convictions from Florida would not have been admissible against him in the past unless he had taken the stand in his own defense. The state was also able to offer the testimony of two prior victims of his sexual assaults to corroborate the victim’s accounting of her sexual abuse at the hand of Counts as another part of the propensity evidence.
Blakely was lead chair for the prosecution.
“Mrs. Blakely presented a good case and worked hard to develop the witnesses who provided the facts resulting in a successful prosecution of a child predator,” Boyd said. “Also, the support of the Susana Wesley shelter and all the victim advocates and teachers who have been involved in the life of the victim helped make Mr. Counts accountable for his actions.”
Counts is facing up to 120 years at sentencing set for June 27 in Scott County.