Cape Girardeau man gets 15 years in prison on attempted rape charge

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- A 51-year-old Cape Girardeau man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for attempting to rape a 16-year-old girl last May.

Craig Kizer pleaded guilty to charges of attempted rape in January, just a day before a jury trial was set to begin in his case.

The prison sentence is five years above what was recommended to the court, according to Cape Girardeau County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jack Koester. Koester said a sentencing assessment report from the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole recommended Kizer serve five to 10 years for the crime.

Kizer was charged last year after he forced his way into a Minnesota Avenue home, where Lisa Conrad found the man -- holding a knife -- hunched over her daughter in her bedroom.

She forced Kizer out of the home at gunpoint.

Koester said in his Tuesday hearing, Kizer apologized to the family and told the judge he was suffering from drug addiction and was high on cocaine at the time of the incident.

Kizer had no prior convictions.

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