A 62-year-old man was sentenced to a staggering ten life sentences plus 63 years after being found guilty on numerous counts of child sex offenses, according to a report from the 22nd Circuit Court. Craig Wilbert was handed down the sentence by Judge Madeline Connolly for his crimes involving sodomy, sexual trafficking, and providing pornographic material to minors. Amongst these ten life sentences, Connolly specified that two would be served consecutively, rendering Wilbert ineligible for parole until he has served at least 30 years behind bars.
Details of Wilbert's deplorable acts first surfaced when authorities received a report of a sexual assault against a 17-year-old who had recently come to live in Wilbert’s residence in the city’s Dutchtown neighborhood. The teenager, along with her boyfriend and his mother, had moved in, only to become subject to Wilbert's predatory moves. Wilbert tried to seldom resist making sexual advances and began sending her pornography. In a brazen offer, he propositioned the victim with money for sexual favors, threatening homelessness upon all three if she refused his advances. Through the investigation, it was revealed that the victim's boyfriend had also been subjected to abuse since he was approximately 12 years old at the hands of Wilbert.
With a history of sexual offenses, this isn't Wilbert's first confrontation with the law. In 2010, Wilbert was convicted of first-degree child molestation and served eight years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. This prior conviction played into the current sentencing, assuring a far lengthier stay behind bars this time around.
The case against Wilbert was prosecuted by Assistant Circuit Attorneys Sydney Beecher and Kerri Davis. Delivering justice in such a harrowing case, their work underscores the relentless commitment to confronting and punishing those who perpetrate such heinous crimes. The official report from the Circuit Attorney's office shines a light on the severity of the crimes and the enduring impact on the victims. While no sentence can ever erase to fully undo the trauma inflicted, it offers a semblance of closure and asserts the system's stance against child predators.
