Chavez sentenced to 55 years in rape, sodomy case

A Poplar Bluff man was sentenced to more than 50 years in prison Tuesday afternoon for raping and sodomizing a teenager over a nearly two-year period.

Robert Allen Chavez appeared before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett for sentencing after a Butler County jury convicted him in March of the unclassified felonies of first-degree statutory sodomy and first-degree statutory rape and the Class C felony of second-degree statutory rape.

Chavez’s victim was 13 when the abuse began in 2012 and 15 when it ended in 2014.

Pritchett heard recommendations from Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kacey Proctor, who asked for consecutive 30-year sentences on both of the unclassified felonies and a concurrent seven-year sentence on the C felony.

Chavez’s victim, Proctor said, also read a letter to the court.

Pritchett sentenced the 47-year-old to 25 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for the first-degree statutory sodomy and 30 years for the first-degree statutory rape, according to Proctor.

Those sentences, according to Proctor, were ordered to be served consecutively and also concurrent to a seven-year sentence for the second-degree statutory rape.

During the March trial, the state reportedly presented testimony from multiple witnesses, including law enforcement personnel and the victim.

Now retired investigator Tim Davis with the Butler County Sheriff’s Department testified about the statement he took from the victim, as well as Chavez.

“He questioned several other witnesses and took the victim’s cellphone into evidence and had it analyzed at the Poplar Bluff Police Department by (now retired) Detective Greg Brainard, a computer forensic expert,” Proctor earlier said.

Davis also reportedly testified about his processing of the victim’s bedroom for evidence.

“The sexual abuse began in October 2012 at the defendant’s house and then later would take place at the victim’s house,” Proctor said.

Davis also testified he had “examined the forensic interview report and video, as well as the SAFE exam (completed on the victim) and testified that the SAFE exam showed the victim exhibited signs of sexual abuse,” Proctor said.

Brainard, he said, also testified as to the forensic analysis of the victim’s cellphone and how he recovered several months worth of messages between the victim and Chavez.

“With the victim on the stand, the jury got to see the content of the messages, which (included) times to meet at the victim’s house, as well as discussions about taking a pregnancy test,” Proctor said.

During the victim’s testimony, Proctor said, the jurors were able to see “there was a code word between the victim and the defendant that meant the defendant wanted to discuss sex. The jury got to see that code word in the messages.”

Proctor said the victim recounted “numerous specific incidents beginning in October 2012 and ending in June 2014.”

Also testifying for the state was Butler County Capt. Charlie Phelps.

“He testified to a recorded phone call between the defendant (from the county jail) to his wife, and the jury got to hear that phone call, where the defendant told his wife he would plead guilty to fondling,” Proctor said.

The call reportedly was made in early 2019. Chavez was arrested in April 2019 and remains incarcerated in the Butler County jail.

The defense reportedly called two witnesses — Chavez and his wife.

“The defendant did not admit to the sexual abuse,” Proctor said.