Cape Girardeau man pleads guilty on sex charges

Rather than face a scheduled jury, a 51-year-old previously convicted sex offender from Cape Girardeau pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of first-degree child molestation.

William H. Evans, of 25 S. Sprigg, was charged after he subjected a girl under the age of 12 to sexual contact on two occasions in August, according to authorities. He was sentenced Friday morning in Jackson by Circuit Court Judge David C. Mann to two consecutive 10-year terms in prison.

The victim was not a relative and the act was not committed violently, police said at the time of Evans' arrest. He had been convicted of sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse on June 11, 1987, in Cape Girardeau County. He also pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in 1994 and 1996.