Man gets consecutive life terms in 2001 sexual assault

A man convicted of a 2001 sexual assault was sentenced to two consecutive life terms Tuesday.

Ontario Reed, 24, formerly of Malden, Mo., was convicted of felony forcible rape and felony forcible sodomy, although he asserted to the end the sex was consensual.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said Reed told the judge, "We were just having fun. Now she's running from the truth." Reed did not testify in his defense at the trial, according to Swingle.

Swingle said there wasn't a shred of evidence to support a previous dating relationship between Reed and the victim.

"There is no doubt in my mind that a sexual predator is off the street and is not going to be able to do harm again," Swingle said.

Both the victim and her mother entered victim impact statements Tuesday, Swingle said.

In the statement, the victim wrote that pizza and flower deliveries and routine repair visits fill her with fear because "allowing a stranger into my home is terrifying."

For more, check back at semissourian.com or read Wednesday's Southeast Missourian.