"Jane Doe" - 7 yo - Springfield MO

Greene County Circuit Judge
Michael J. Cordonnier ruled Friday that Jeffery A. Dickson must serve
four life sentences consecutively for kidnapping, raping and sodomizing
a 7-year-old girl."Let there be no
confusion in your mind that your freedom is lost forever," Cordonnier
told Dickson, who appeared in court with his public defender, Rod
Hackathorn.Hackathorn
had asked Dickson serve three life sentences concurrently for one count
of forcible rape and two counts of forcible sodomy in addition to a
10-year sentence for kidnapping.That would mean Dickson, who is 39, would only be eligible for parole when he is in his late 70s, Hackathorn said.But,
citing the brutality and viciousness of the offense and Dickson's
lengthy criminal history, Cordonnier handed out the harshest punishment
allowed by state law -- depriving the Springfield man of any hope of
getting out of state prison in his lifetime.Family members of the victim were pleased."I
think it's wonderful. It's justice served," said the mother of the
girl. "I wanted death, but I'll take life (in prison)." The
News-Leader's policy is to not name the sexual assault victims and in
this case, the name of the mother because it would identify the child.Jill
Patterson, an assistant county prosecutor who told the judge that
Dickson should serve consecutive life sentences for each of the four
counts, said she was satisfied."But it's hard to be happy when you talk about something like this," she said.Hackathorn said he would appeal the case on Dickson's behalf. He said there were errors during the trial."It seems like an overkill, but not unexpected," Hackathorn said of the sentence.The public defender said he is not disputing the violence of the assault but said Dickson was not the one who perpetuated it.In August, a jury found Dickson guilty after a weeklong trial.During
the trial, assistant Greene County Prosecutor Russ Dempsey said Dickson
was present at a north Springfield home where an all-night card game
took place on April 5, 2008.The girl also was there, having been brought by her grandmother.The
girl took the stand during the trial and described how "Jeff" came to
the window of a bedroom she was playing in. He promised her a Barbie
doll if she'd come with him, she said, and she climbed out the window.Prosecutors
said Dickson led his victim by the hand to 1024 W. Nichols St., forced
the girl to smoke a substance from a pipe, raped and sodomized her.When
she asked if he was a child molester, Dickson choked the girl to
unconsciousness and set the house on fire -- an allegation for which he
was not charged due to a lack of physical evidence.On Friday, Patterson said it was a miracle that the girl escaped from the fire alive.