NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Circuit Court Judge Fred W. Copeland sent a 26-year-old Cape Girardeau man back to prison Friday, sentencing him to 20 years for having intercourse with a girl younger than 14.

Paul S. Simpson pleaded guilty to first-degree statutory sodomy charges July 13. An additional statutory sodomy charge and two counts of statutory rape were dropped per a plea agreement.

Copeland's sentence, according to the victim's mother, was not harsh enough.

"I think he should have got life because he's done it numerous amount of times. I don't think it's right for him to do it to any other kid when he gets out," she said.

Simpson was arrested for the crime in July 2009, shortly after the incidents were reported to police.

According to the victim, who was interviewed by the Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence, the incident occurred after Simpson was released from prison in May 2008 and again in July 2008 at a home in Cape Girardeau.

The case was moved to New Madrid County in August last year.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said in a news release that the girl was 4 when the abuse began. It continued for two or three years before she reported it.

Before determining Simpson's sentence, Copeland called the defendant's actions "horrific," according to Swingle.

ehevern@semissourian.com

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