Bollinger County man pleads guilty to statutory rape

A Zalma, Mo., man has pleaded guilty to statutory rape.

Jaramiah Hood, 30, pleaded guilty March 3 before Judge Stephen Sharp in Stoddard County Circuit Court to one felony count of second-degree statutory rape. His trial was set to begin this week.

Sharp sentenced Hood to 5 years in state prison.

Hood was arrested in September in connection with a rape that allegedly occurred three years ago.

According to police, he physically forced a 13-year-old girl to have sex with him in November 2006 in Puxico, Mo. He also forced her to perform other sexual acts and threatened the girl not to tell anyone about the abuse. She also stated that when she was 15 years old, Hood tried again to sexually assault her but she was able to flee.