SW Mo. man stands up, curses after prison sentence

JOPLIN, Mo. -- A southwest Missouri man wasn't happy with his girlfriend after a Jasper County judge sentenced him to 14 years in prison for throwing a pot of boiling water on her.

The Joplin Globe reported that 30-year-old Steven Strong stood up in court Friday and swore at Tonya Dry before deputies ushered him out of the courtroom.

The Carl Junction man was convicted in October of first-degree domestic assault for the July 2009 assault of Dry, who said he grabbed her hair, hit her in the mouth and struck her in the face with a pan of boiling potatoes.

Strong, who was prosecuted as a prior offender, testified that he was asleep when his girlfriend was attacked by another man who had entered the home.