Jury finds Kansas City man guilty of raping 10-year-old girl, other child sex crimes
A Jackson County jury on Tuesday found a 36-year-old Kansas City man guilty of two counts of statutory rape and other sex crimes involving a 10-year-old girl, according to a news release from the prosecutor’s office.
The jury convicted Adalberto Gaitan of two counts of first-degree statutory rape, two counts of statutory sodomy and one count of first-degree statutory sodomy.
It recommended that Gaitan be sentenced to life and 25 years in prison on the statutory rape convictions, between 1 and 20 years on the statutory sodomy convictions and 10 years for the final charge of first-degree statutory sodomy.
According to court records, the Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services uncovered the crimes after being alerted by a hotline call alleging sexual abuse involving a girl in an Independence home.
The Child Protection Center interviewed the girl who told them Gaitan had done “awful things” to her. The abuse began when she was 8 or 9 years old, the girl told interviewers.
Sentencing has been set for Aug. 31.
