A Jefferson County jury recently found William James Jehle, 62, of De Soto guilty of molesting a child for more than two years. The jury’s decision came 14 years after Jehle pleaded guilty to two first-degree statutory sodomy charges in a separate case, court records show.
On March 28, the jury found Jehle guilty of two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy, one count of first-degree statutory rape and one count of statutory rape, each one an unclassified felonies punishable by five years to life in prison. Jehle’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11 in front of Jefferson County Div. 10 Associate Circuit Judge Jeffrey Coleman, according to court documents.
The jury found Jehle guilty following a two-day trial. He was accused of molesting a child younger than 12 years old from Dec. 20, 2008, through May 17, 2011, court records show.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorneys Shannon O’Neal and Neilson Lea prosecuted the case.
Jehle was already serving a 30-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree statutory sodomy charges in November 2011. In that case, he admitted to molesting a child who was younger than 14 years old between Aug. 1, 2009, and Dec. 10, 2010, court records show.
He currently is in the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston, according to Missouri Department of Corrections records.