Friday, September 28, 2018

Government: Former crack baby should serve 15 years in prison for sex crimes with underage Joplin girls

Gary Stewart's lawyers say the judge should go lightly on him when he is sentenced Tuesday in U. S. District Court in Springfield on a federal child sex charge.

In a sentencing memorandum filed September 21, Stewart's attorney noted his client's crack baby status and for further effect added that his client's mother was shot to death when he was two years old and his father overdosed on heroin right in front of him the same day.

Plus he was raised in "the hood" in New Orleans.

A sentencing memorandum filed today in federal court indicates the government, while perhaps not agreeing with this charitable view of Stewart, does agree on the defendant's idea of a lighter sentence.

The U. S. Attorney is calling for Stewart to serve more than 15 years in prison, 188 months to be exact, and to serve 20 years on supervised probation after his release. According to the government memorandum, both sides agree to that recommendation.



Stewart, 37, Joplin, pleaded guilty to having sex with a 16-year-old girl and the Joplin Police Department had arrested him for having sex with other underage girls. He was awaiting trial on three statutory rape charges when he was indicted by a federal grand jury in April.

Stewart's crimes were described in the government's sentencing memorandum:

On December 27, 2016, an individual contacted Sergeant A. Blair of the Joplin Police Department with regard to sexually explicit photographs being exchanged between his 16-year-old daughter, Jane Doe, and an adult male, later identified as the defendant, Gary Stewart. 

On December 29, 2016, Jane Doe was interviewed at the Children’s Center in Joplin by forensic interviewer Tiffany Bogardus. During the course of the interview, Jane Doe told Ms. Borgardus that she and the defendant “made out” on July 4, 2016, at her aunt’s home, located in Joplin, Missouri. 

Shortly thereafter, she and the defendant again “made out” at the same residence. On the second occasion, the defendant inserted his fingers into her vagina and Jane Doe performed oral sex upon the defendant. The defendant met Jane Doe a third time on October 30, 2016, at her aunt’s home, where she and the defendant engaged in sexual intercourse. Jane Doe claimed that the defendant had sexual intercourse with her on three different occasions. Jane Doe also informed the interviewer that she and the defendant communicated via text messages transmitted with her iPhone and ZTE981 cellular telephones. 

During these text exchanges, the defendant asked her to produce and transmit sexually explicit images of herself. Jane Doe complied with these demands, and sent the defendant sexually explicit pictures of herself. 

The investigators were able to seize and examine both cell phones utilized by Jane Doe to communicate with the defendant. A forensic examination detailed numerous text messages sent between Jane Doe and the defendant discussing sexual activity. 

It was clear from several text exchanges that the defendant was aware that Jane Doe was a minor and that he was breaking the law by engaging in sexual acts with her. 

Several sexually explicit photographs of Jane Doe were recovered from the telephones. Photographs of the defendant posing naked were also located on the phone. 

On January 26, 2017, Joplin Police Detective Jason Hutchins made contact with the defendant at the Jasper County Detention Center with regard to a separate investigation involving the allegation that the defendant had sexually abused other children. In the course of the interview, the defendant admitted having committed the statutory rape of Jane Doe.

On the other hand, as Stewart's attorney noted in the earlier sentencing memorandum, Stewart may have pleaded guilty to having sex with an underage girl, but he "hates drugs and has never used drugs."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Even though he has been through a lot he still knew he was doing wrong. End of discussion