Sentencing postponed for former R-8 employee in child sex case

The sentencing for former Joplin R-8 School District technology department employee Ronny Justin Myers, originally scheduled for Friday morning at the federal court building in Springfield, has been postponed.

The delay came as a result of the filing of a sentencing memorandum Wednesday, in which the government asked that Myers be sentenced to 25 years in prison. Ian Lewis, the public defender representing Myers, said he needed time to respond to the memorandum.

Lewis is particularly incensed that the government wants to add more years to his client's sentence just because Myers admitted to molesting his three stepdaughters from his recent marriage and to having pornographic pictures of 10 underage Joplin students.

"This motion was filed without any notice or forewarning being given to undersigned counsel. Furthermore, the Government did not base its motion on any newly discovered evidence, but on the interview of Defendant, which was provided to the Presentence Investigation Report writer, who in their capacity noted in paragraph 60 of the PSIR that no factors had been identified to warrant a departure from the USSG range. Additional time is necessary to investigate the Government’s assertion that an upward variance is warranted. The Government is seeking to effectively strip Defendant of any benefit that was conferred upon him by his acceptance of responsibility.

"Furthermore, the Government is attempting to punish Defendant for crimes that have not been brought against him; crimes for which the State of Missouri still has jurisdiction. Since undersigned counsel would want to respond in kind with a written motion, additional time is necessary to adequately represent Defendant’s position.

"This continuance is not being sought to merely delay this Court, but is sought so that the Defendant may be afforded due process of law under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution."

In the sentencing memorandum, Assistant U. S. Attorney Abram McGull says that during a three-hour interview "defendant admitted that he has secretly stored child pornography on his computer. He stated he had approximately 10 child pornography images of Joplin School District co-eds on his laptop. Four of the girl have been positively identified as D. F. (age 15), LS (age 16), GS (age 16) and NC (age 15)."

The sentencing memorandum later says, "The defendant admitted he secretly recorded a 17-year-old engaging in sexual activity and covertly retained child pornography of Joplin School District co-eds who ranged in age from 15 to 16 years old."

The document does not indicate whether the laptop belonged to Myers or to the school district..

During the three-hour interview, Myers admitted to having sex with the nine-year-old daughter of his girlfriend five years ago and to setting up a meeting at Northpark Mall with the girl February 15 during his lunch break. However, it was not the girl, but a member of the Cyber Crimes Task Force posing as her who had set up the meeting. The complete affidavit describing that crime can be found at this link.

Realizing that he was about to be arrested, Myers took off and was involved in a high-speed chase before being captured.

Myers also admitted that he had sex with his new wife's three underaged daughters.

"The defendant was very candid and forthcoming about his sexual attraction to little girls less than 12 years of age."