From: Platte County Prosecuting Attorney "Eric Zahnd"
Date: January 11, 2010
Subject: 26 years for child rape, pornography charges
A Platte County man who raped and sodomized a 16-year-old girl and possessed images of child pornography has been sentenced to 26 years in prison. Aaron R. Joordens, 38, received the sentence in Platte County Circuit Court on January 6 after pleading guilty to the offenses.
Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said, “Like too many other cases, this case demonstrates the link between viewing child pornography and sexual abuse of actual children. My experience as a prosecutor confirms what the scientific studies show: criminals who possess child pornography have very often committed other sexual abuse of children, regardless of whether they have been caught doing it.”
On January 20, 2009, the mother of a 16-year-old girl reported that Joordens had sexual intercourse with her daughter. Following the sexual encounter, Joordens sent the victim several sexually explicit text messages.
Deputies with the Platte County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at Joordens’ residence. An examination of Joordens’ laptop computer revealed three videos of child pornography, including images of a child bound while being sexually abused. |
Aaron Joordens
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Joordens pled guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography on October 8, 2009. He pled guilty to the second degree statutory rape and second degree statutory sodomy on the day his trial was scheduled to begin.
Judge Abe Shafer sentenced Joordens to seven years on each of the child pornography counts and six years each on the statutory rape and statutory sodomy charges. Shafer ordered the sentences to run consecutively to each other, bringing Joordens’ total sentence to 26 years in prison.
Zahnd said, “We work very hard to ensure that those who abuse children pay a very heavy price. Judge Shafer did the right thing by sentencing this man to a long prison term.&rdquo
The case was investigated by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department with the assistance of the Heart of America Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory. It was prosecuted by assistant prosecutors Myles Perry and Chris Seufert.
Eric G. Zahnd
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney
415 Third Street
Suite 60
Platte City, Missouri 64079
(816) 858-3476
(816) 858-3472 (fax)
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