Essex man sentenced to life for child molestation

Friday, November 9, 2018
Chad Anderson

BLOOMFIELD — An Essex man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he pleaded guilty Wednesday to a child molestation charge in Stoddard County.

Chad M. Anderson pleaded guilty to the Class A felony of first-degree child molestation before Presiding Circuit Judge Robert Mayer, according to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver.

Anderson entered his plea during what was supposed be a review of his case. He originally was charged with three Class A felonies of first-degree child molestation.

Anderson, according to Casenet, pleaded guilty to an April 4 incident investigated by the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Department.

After accepting Anderson’s plea, Mayer sentenced him to life in the Missouri Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole.

“It was a negotiated plea, and he had multiple victims,” Oliver said. “I was very, very pleased to get it resolved that way.

“He will be ineligible for parole for the entire duration of his life sentence.”

With the plea, “we were also able to spare the victims from having to participate in the court proceedings,” Oliver said.

Due to the sensitive nature of the crime and to protect the identity of victims, Oliver said, no details of the crime are being released by his office.

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