Man sentenced to 60 years for sexual abuse

BENTON, Mo. -- A Benton man was sentenced Tuesday to 60 years in prison after being found guilty of statutory rape of a child in Scott County.

Clayton Counts, 69, was sentenced by Judge David Dolan following a two-day jury trial in May.

Counts was charged with three counts of statutory rape of a child under the age of 14 in Scott County. Counts was also convicted as a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of one still image of child pornography based on a search warrant executed at his home Jan. 26, 2016, by the Scott County Sheriff's Department.

Assistant Prosecutor Tabatha Blakely spoke on behalf of the state requesting as much time as the court could sentence Counts, since it was the "worst child sexual assault case she had worked on in her six-year career."

Dolan gave Counts 30 years for each of the three statutory rape charges to run concurrently, a 15-year sentence on the felon in possession of a firearm, and 15 years for possession of the child pornography.

Dolan ran the two 15-year sentences consecutively to the 30-year sentence for a total of a 60-year prison sentence.

In announcing the sentence, Dolan said: "Your history indicated that you were always a controlling individual. You have always taken advantage of the disadvantaged. Now someone will control you."

Scott County Prosecutor Paul R. Boyd said he was proud of the team effort to convict Counts.

"We had law enforcement, prosecutors, victim advocates, teachers, counselors, other victims of Mr. Counts and child advocates all involved in seeing this case to a conclusion," Boyd said.