Butler County jury deliberates six hours before convicting PB man in 2012 rape case

A Butler County jury deliberated about six hours Friday in convicting a Poplar Bluff man of raping and sodomizing a teenager over a nearly two-year period.

A jury of six women and six men convicted Robert Allen Chavez, 47, of the unclassified felonies of first-degree statutory sodomy and first-degree statutory rape and the Class C felony of second-degree statutory rape.

The jury reached its verdict after hearing from multiple witnesses, including Chavez, who testified on his own behalf, and his alleged victim over a two-day period.

Chavez

The crimes occurred between 2012 and 2014.

Sentencing will take place in April.

Additional information on the trial will be updated at www.darnews.com and in the Saturday edition of the Daily American Republic.