Miner, Mo., man sentenced to 30 years for statutory sodomy

BENTON, Mo. -- A Miner, Mo., resident was sentenced to the next 30 years in prison for the sexual assault of a 4-year-old child.

Christopher Perigo, 34, was sentenced to 30 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on one count of first degree statutory sodomy by Judge Mark Richardson in Butler County Tuesday. Perigo was found guilty by a Butler County jury on the charge on December 19.

At the sentencing hearing, Scott County Prosecutor Paul Boyd presented testimony from a probation officer that Perigo was not a candidate for outpatient sexual offender treatment program as a condition of his probation or as a prisoner in the Missouri Department of Corrections based mainly on his lack of admitting he needed help.

"The first step in any rehabilitation program is admitting you have a problem. In criminal cases, that first step usually begins with a guilty plea," Boyd said.

Boyd argued to the court that the defendant should get a 30-year sentence based on the defendant's prior criminal history, the defendant causing a child victim to testify in open court about the crime, his lack of taking responsibility for his actions, and the protection of present and future victims where the defendant will not be rehabilitated.

Perigo was indicted by a Scott County grand jury on two counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree committed between Jan. 1 and Aug. 3, 2006 to a child victim who was then 4 years old. The statutory range of punishment for statutory sodomy of a child less than 14 years is a minimum of 10 years in prison to 30 years in prison.