Local jury convicts man of child molestation, sodomy

A Cape Girardeau County jury convicted John Harris II, 33, of first-degree felony child molestation and statutory sodomy Tuesday.

Harris was found to have sexually abused 10- and 12-year-old girls in 2014 in the 900 block of Benton Street in Cape Girardeau.

The victims, now 12 and 13, testified in the case. The criminal investigation was conducted by the Cape Girardeau Police Department and Jana Weiny of Beacon Health Center. Assistant Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney Julia Koester presented the case.

The jury deliberated for about an hour before finding Harris guilty on both counts.

“Cases of this nature are often difficult ... due to the fact that much of the time the majority of the evidence consists only of a young victim’s word against the word of an adult abuser,” Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh said in a news release. “(Koester) deserves great credit for expertise and sensitivity in presenting the young victims’ testimony to the jury.”

Sentencing in the case was scheduled for May 10. Harris faces five to 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on the molestation charge and could face life in prison for the statutory sodomy charge. Harris will be required to serve 85 percent of the sentence for statutory sodomy before he would be eligible for parole, according to Missouri law.

Pertinent address:

900 block of Benton Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.