Jasper County pervert to remain behind bars

The Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals today rejected a Webb City man's efforts to get a new trial in his statutory sodomy case.
This is not the first time Frank Shifkowski, 64, has been rejected by an appellate panel and probably won't be the last. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2000 after a jury found him guilty of having sexual relations with his 13-year-old stepdaughter from the time he had married her mother when she was about six years old.
If there is still anyone out there who doubts the value of public education when it comes to these cases, the Shifkowski case should allay those doubts. Shifkowski was one of those predators who had the girl believing that what he was doing was normal. It was during a discussion in her health class that she realized what had been going on was wrong, according to the court record. After that, she told her paternal grandmother, who called the Division of Family Services.
The girl was taken to the Children's Center in Joplin, where she was examined by a doctor who said what he found was consistent with the sexual abuse allegations.
When Shifkowski was brought to the Webb City Police Department, Detective Jaryl Beckett told him what the girl had accused him of doing and Shifkowski "started laughing," according to the court opinion.
"Beckett then told (him) that this matter wasn't funny but involved serious accusations." Beckett told Shifkowski about the medical findings and other evidence that had been collected through interviews. At that point, Shifkowski said, "I'm thinking about talking to an attorney." Earlier, he had waived his rights. Beckett told him he had every right to call in a lawyer. Shifkowski was arrested and then made an incriminating statement, according to the court file. His appeals have centered around poor defense and the use of that statement, which Shifkowski cames through "psychological coercion" and a violation of his Miranda rights.
Those claims were rejected along with Shifkowski's claim that his lawyer did not properly advise him that he should have accepted the plea bargain that was offered by the Jasper County prosecuting attorney's office.