A Poplar Bluff man was sentenced Tuesday to 60 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections after he was found guilty of first-degree statutory rape, first-degree statutory sodomy and incest in October.
Thomas Woodham, 38, will serve 30 years on the rape charge and 30 years on the sodomy charge, with those sentences to run consecutively.
Woodham also was handed a four-year sentence on the incest charge, which will run concurrent to the others. He was sentenced by 36th Circuit Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett.
The case against Woodham arose from a 2017 investigation by Poplar Bluff Police Patrolman Andy Cleaveland, who received a report from a Butler County Children’s Division investigator about a sexual assault.
After a forensic interview and SAFE exam of the then 14-year-old victim, charges were sought through the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office.
The case against Woodham was tried Oct. 13-14 before Pritchett by Butler County Prosecutor Kasey Proctor and Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Michel.
The 10-woman, two-man jury deliberated only 30 minutes before finding Woodham guilty on all three counts.
At his sentencing hearing Tuesday, Proctor presented a statement from the victim, who asked Pritchett to “… put him behind bars for the rest of his life.”
The statement read by Proctor also said the victim would not feel safe if Woodham ever were to be released.
Woodham will not be eligible for parole until he serves at least 85% of his 60-year sentence, Proctor said.
“My hope is that the victim can finally start the healing process and have peace knowing that her courage and truthfulness about the defendant’s actions is what will keep him in prison for the next 60 years,” Proctor said in a statement.
“I am confident Woodham will never have access to another child,” Proctor added.