A Cole County jury found 33-year-old Korey D. Owens guilty Thursday of two counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree, following testimony that he abused a child starting when the victim was young in 2015. Owens now faces up to life in prison and is set to be sentenced on November 25, 2026.
Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson announced the verdict in a Thursday news release, according to KOMU 8. Thompson has led the Cole County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, a staff of nine assistant prosecutors and victim advocates in Jefferson City, since taking office in January 2019, according to Cole County records. At trial, the victim testified about extensive abuse, and that testimony was backed by evidence of continual disclosure to multiple adults over time, per the release cited by the station.
Jurors deliberated a little over three hours before returning the guilty verdict, per the same release. The abuse investigation traces back to 2015, and the victim first disclosed what happened to Children's Division investigators before also speaking with forensic interviewers, the station's report states.
How Missouri's Forensic Interview Process Works
Missouri's system for handling disclosures like this one is designed to limit how many times a child has to recount abuse. State Children's Division personnel typically work alongside regional Child Advocacy Centers to conduct a single, recorded forensic interview using standardized protocols such as ChildFirst®, with multidisciplinary teams observing by live feed rather than questioning the child directly, according to the Missouri Department of Social Services. That structure appears consistent with how investigators in this case gathered corroborating statements following the victim's initial disclosure.
Owens has had prior brushes with law enforcement in the region. Media records from August 2018 show he was previously charged, at age 25, in connection with a separate child sexual abuse investigation in Jefferson City involving six counts, according to reporting cited by Invisible Children. Separately, Phelps County Sheriff's Department records show Owens was arrested during a 2016 traffic stop on State Route B on charges that included possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, when he was 22.
What Missouri Law Says About the Charges
Under Missouri Revised Statutes § 566.062, statutory sodomy in the first degree is defined as engaging in deviate sexual conduct with a victim under 14 years old, carrying a statutory sentencing range of five years to life in prison, according to Combs Waterkotte. Because the case involves a child, Missouri law also excludes consent entirely as a legal defense: RSMo § 566.020 presumes minors under 14 are legally incapable of giving it, per RAINN. That is why the case centered on the victim's age and disclosures rather than any question of consent.
Sentencing will not be simple math. If the victim was under 12, Missouri's truth-in-sentencing provisions under RSMo § 558.019 classify first-degree statutory sodomy as a dangerous felony, meaning Owens would have to serve at least 85% of whatever prison term the judge imposes before he could even be considered for parole, according to the Missouri Senate. A conviction on these charges also triggers Tier III sex offender registration under RSMo § 589.400, the state's most severe classification, requiring lifetime registration and in-person check-ins with local law enforcement every 90 days.
Case Heads to Cole County's 19th Judicial Circuit
The conviction was handed down in Missouri's 19th Judicial Circuit Court, a single-county circuit that handles all state criminal trials in Cole County from its courthouse on East High Street in downtown Jefferson City. It is the same circuit where prosecutors previously secured consecutive life sentences in June 2024 against Francis Henry Kempker, convicted by a jury of statutory sexual crimes committed in Centertown.
Owens' sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 25, 2026, when the judge will weigh victim impact testimony, sentencing guidelines and the mandatory registry requirements before issuing a final order. Until then, the range facing him remains what the jury's verdict allows: anywhere from a term of years up to life in prison.
