A trial averted

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- It's over.

Four years of delays, appeals and objections, and the sexual abuse case against a Marble Hill, Mo., church leader is over.

On the eve of his trial, 71-year-old Hurley Dixon, who now lives in North Carolina, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the sexual assault of a mentally handicapped woman.

In the end -- even though the case never went before a jury -- it was the victim's testimony that finally made the difference.

n

In the chilly Butler County courtroom, a dark-haired woman slips a red sweater over her ankle-length floral dress.

Three other people occupy the long wooden bench. They take turns patting the woman on the back or slipping an arm around her shoulders.

Other people are scattered about the courtroom, all with an interest in the May 30 morning docket. In the front row, six men in orange jumpsuits and handcuffs await their moment before the judge.

But this is Khanthaly's moment.

She has been here before. Twice in fact, though in two different courtrooms before two different judges and two different defense attorneys.

In one instance, the case was dismissed. In the second, the defendant pleaded guilty to reduced charges and received 60 days in jail.

And now, Khanthaly (pronounced Kon-tah-lee) Keopraseut is on the stand again, telling her story for the third time, before a third judge, this time on the third floor of the Butler County Courthouse.

This time, the question is not whether a crime took place but whether a child, even one trapped in a 28-year-old's body, knows the difference between truth and lies; between reality and make-believe.

n

In the late 1970s, thousands of refugees fled a war-torn Southeast Asia.

Te and Thept Keopraseut were among the lucky ones who escaped. The Laotian couple and their five children were sponsored by a Southeast Missouri church and brought to Marble Hill, Mo.

Khanthaly -- born in 1978 and a toddler when the Keopraseuts came to Marble Hill -- is referred to as a female of "diminished mental capacity" in court documents and her thought process is compared to that of a 5-year-old. A psychologist's evaluation in 2003 found that she is mentally retarded. Khanthaly also has hepatitis B -- the only recorded case of it in Bollinger County until 2002.

The sponsoring church -- Marble Hill Bible Chapel -- opened its arms to the family.

The Keopraseuts made their home within 50 feet of the church and attended each week for 20 years.

n

At the front of the courtroom, Khanthaly carefully spells her name for the court reporter. She raises her right hand and swears to tell the truth, then steps into the witness stand.

Bollinger County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Gray has been alongside Khanthaly through each of the two previous cases.

Today, his job is not to prove that Khanthaly was abused but to prove she is a competent witness.

The judge in the first case decided the answer was no, and the charges were dismissed. Today, the decision rests with Circuit Judge Mark Richardson.

On the witness stand, Khanthaly answers the prosecuting attorney's questions as if reciting information she has long since memorized.

"What town do you live in?"

"Marble Hill."

"Where? What street?"

"Vine Street."

"And what's next door to your house?"

"Church."

"What church?"

"Marble Hill Bible Chapel."

"Did you used to go there?"

"Yes."

"Why did you stop?"

"Hurley did bad stuff to me."

In the front row, the men in orange jumpsuits and handcuffs focus their attention on the witness stand.

"What did he do?"

"He had sex with me."

"What exactly did he do to you?"

"He put it into me."

"What did he put into you?"

"His d---."

The coarse description, dropped from the sweet-voiced mouth of the pretty girl on the witness stand, brings a snicker from amid the orange jumpsuits.

In the third row back, the atmosphere is tense.

n

At around 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20, 2002, Khanthaly Keopraseut and her older sister, Khonsavan, showed up at the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department.

There, they spoke with deputy Stan Petton, at the time a seven-year veteran of law enforcement who dealt primarily with narcotics offenses. In his probable-cause affidavit, Petton said Khanthaly claimed three men had sexual intercourse with her in the previous year. The most recent incident, according to the affidavit, took place on Feb. 8, 2002 -- in the nursery of Marble Hill Bible Chapel. The three alleged offenders were all leaders in the church.

Khanthaly's mental disability makes communicating exact dates and times difficult.

In February 2002, when she finally went to the law enforcement with her story, Khanthaly was 23 years old. She graduated from Woodland High School and, up to the point where her allegations against the church leaders surfaced, had worked for a sheltered workshop in Marble Hill.

Khanthaly's description to Missouri State Highway patrolman Steve Jarrell, who later investigated the case, included "oral sex, digital penetration of her rectum, bondage," as well as viewing pornography -- in the church, in their homes, in her home, in storage units, in trucks.

The family first went to other leaders in the church with the accusations on Feb. 9, 2002. According to Jarrell's affidavit, the church leaders asked the men if the accusations were true and, when the men denied the claims, did not pursue the issue further.

So the Keopraseuts went to the sheriff's department.

n

Stephen Gray's case rides on the May 30 witness competency hearing before Judge Richardson.

If Khanthaly isn't qualified to testify, the prosecutor's evidence is severed.

Outside of the victim's testimony, the only remaining evidence is circumstantial. Condoms that Khanthaly described were found tucked in the defendant's truck. A nonsexual photograph of her -- and two others -- discovered in his closet. Underwear that matched the description Khanthaly gave. Her phone number logged in his cell phone.

The judge in the first case disqualified her as a witness, and the charges were dismissed.

The second case never went to trial because the defendant, Frank Burgess, pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual misconduct in August 2005, after Khanthaly was qualified to give testimony. He was sentenced to 60 days in St. Francois County Jail.

Dixon faces four charges of sexual assault and two charges of deviate sexual assault -- Missouri law does not differentiate between a mentally handicapped and a normal-functioning individual.

But for now, the likelihood that he will stand trial on those charges is in the judge's hands.

Gray has finished his line of questions.

Defense attorney Walter Drusch steps in front of the witness stand, blocking Khanthaly's view of her family.

He asks her about phone calls she made to the defendant, trips she took alone to the church when she knew Dixon was there. Why she can remember what color underwear Dixon wore but not what days and times she had sex.

He asks her if she knew she was going to have sex when she went to the church to see Dixon.

The answer is yes.

He asks if she told Dixon she didn't want to have sex.

The answer is yes.

Then Drusch asks why she went to the church if she knew Dixon wanted to have sex.

The question confuses Khanthaly; she's unable to explain herself.

In the third row of wooden benches, her father is bent over, head in hands as if to block out the defense attorney's insinuations.

Finally, the defense attorney finishes his barrage of questions, and Khanthaly is dismissed.

n

On May 30, 2006, Judge Richardson ruled that Khanthaly Keopraseut is competent to testify, clearing the way for a jury trial scheduled to begin this morning.

After a last-ditch effort for a postponement by the Southern District Court of Appeals was denied, Dixon pleaded guilty Tuesday to a class C felony of sexual assault -- a charge that carries a maximum of seven years in jail.cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128

How the story was reported

This story was reported using court documents that included probable-cause affadavits and hearing transcripts spanning from February 2002 to June 2006. The Keopraseut family declined interview requests. Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Gray declined comment prior to the case ending.