44-year-old Missouri man sentenced to life in prison for rape, sodomy of child under 14
A 44-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of repeatedly raping a child in Oak Grove, according to a release by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
John Leland Phelps, 44, was charged in 2018 with the incest, sodomy and rape of a child under the age of 14 years old in Jackson County court. A judge sentenced Phelps on Friday to life in prison for four convictions of rape and sodomy, and another 11 years for incest convictions, according to the release.
This is not the first time Phelps has been convicted of sex crimes against a child in Jackson County . Phelps pleaded guilty to child molestation charges and was sentenced to six years in prison in 2009.
Kansas City police believe in 2015, he started to perpetrate crimes against a child under the age of 14, according to charging documents.
An Oak Grove guidance counselor alerted police in 2018 to allegations that Phelps had been physically and sexually abusing the victim for three years. The latest incidents had been in September while the child was still asleep, according to charging documents.
Detectives later learned of more instances where Phelps had committed sex crimes at an Oak Grove residence, about 30 miles east of Kansas City. The child had attempted to speak out earlier to an unknown person, but nothing came of it and the abuse continued, documents said.
Phelps repeatedly forced himself onto the child, who he was able to access frequently throughout the day, and during one weekend he sodomized the child.
The incident prompted the child to speak out about the abuse to the counselor, documents said.
A Jackson County jury reached a verdict in February and found Phelps guilty on six felony charges related to the sex crimes.
