SEMO employee pleads guilty to misdemeanor

More than a year after allegations of sexual misconduct against Southeast Missouri State University employee Vincent Spicer, the 42-year-old Cape Girardeau man pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual misconduct.

That's some consolation to his victim, Christna Parmer, who was a co-worker in the university's Facilities Management when the incident happened in March 2004. But it's not quite enough.

Parmer is disappointed at Southeast's response to her allegations, and wants university policy to change.

The victim said she was largely ignored by the administration and wasn't offered counseling or other remedies after the attack while Spicer kept his job but was suspended.

"I talked to my supervisors that Friday and didn't get to talk to anyone else for a week and a half," Parmer said.

On Wednesday Spicer pleaded guilty in a Cape Girardeau County courtroom to sexual misconduct and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation with special conditions like sex offender therapy.

The plea stems from an incident last March when Spicer cornered Parmer in a bathroom she was cleaning at the university, groped her and tried to kiss her.

Parmer ended up quitting her job because she was afraid to work with Spicer, she said.

Spicer, on the other hand, still works at the school and has a master key. Today the university will review the results of the trial and decide whether to keep Spicer.

Southeast president Dr. Ken Dobbins said the school had to protect the rights of the accuser and the accused, and that defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

"We made sure internally this type of thing ... wouldn't occur in the future until we heard from the courts," Dobbins said.

msanders@semissourian.com

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