Man acquitted two years ago of molesting girl gets 75 years for molesting same girl in different county

SAVANNAH, Mo. -- A 41-year-old man who was acquitted of molesting a girl two years ago has been sentenced to 75 years in prison after he was found guilty of having sex with the same girl in another county.

An Andrew County jury convicted Edward E. Williams of St. Joseph of felony child molestation and statutory rape after a two-day trial in October. He was sentenced Friday.

Prosecutors filed an amended complaint with Williams' prior record of felony convictions for burglary and grand theft from Florida, which enhanced the sentence the judge could impose on the child molestation conviction.

Williams was accused of molesting and raping a 13-year-old girl on multiple occasions between September 2002 and March 2003. In May 2005, a Buchanan County jury acquitted Williams of similar charges involving the same girl from alleged incidents in the St. Joseph area in 2001 and early 2003.

When his family moved to Andrew County and new accusations surfaced in that county, Andrew County Prosecutor Steve Stevenson filed the new charges.

Williams, who represented himself in the Andrew County trial, argued during his sentencing hearing that his conviction should be thrown out. He said "new evidence" of the girl misidentifying his scars proved his innocence.

"Did I get a fair trial? No," Williams told Circuit Judge Daniel Kellogg. "In light of the new evidence, I'm asking for a new trial, and you have the power to do that."

Kellogg sentenced him to 50 years for the child molestation charge and 25 years for the statutory rape charge, both sentences to run consecutively.

Stevenson said after the hearing that the victim is trying to lead a normal life but will always deal with deep psychological scars from the abuse, which began when she was around 8.