Trial date set for Southeast Missouri man charged with 20 sex crime counts

BENTON, Mo. -- An Aug. 1 trial date has been set for a registered sex offender from Zalma, Mo., who will face 20 felonies that accuse him of having sex with a person younger than 14.

James L. Borders, 50, of Zalma lived in Scott County from 2006 to 2009, when the incidents allegedly occurred. Borders is charged with 10 counts of first-degree statutory sodomy and 10 counts of child molestation. He has been charged as a prior offender. If convicted by a Scott County jury in August, Borders faces a potential life sentence.

Borders was convicted in 1987 of sodomy for molesting a 5-year-old girl in Flat River, Mo.

The trial will be at the Scott County Courthouse in Benton. Borders had a court appearance Thursday, when the jury trial was set.

Pertinent address:

Benton, MO

Zalma, MO