Sentence in Marble Hill case ends family's ordeal

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Khanthaly Keopraseut quietly entered a Butler County circuit courtroom Tuesday, taking a seat in the back row with her parents, Te and Thept. Across the aisle, only a few feet away, sat 71-year-old Hurley Dixon with his wife, Virginia, clinging to his arm.

In June the former Marble Hill church leader pleaded guilty to the felony sexual assault of Khanthaly, a mentally handicapped 28-year-old judged by the court to have the mental capabilities of a 5-year-old.

Tuesday afternoon the Keopraseuts' four-year ordeal ended when Dixon was sentenced to four years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The sentence was the same one recommended by the prosecution under a plea agreement.

Khanthaly had told police that over a one-year period Dixon and two other members of the Marble Hill Bible Church subjected her to oral sex and other sex acts and showed her pornography -- in the church, in the men's homes, in her home, in storage units and in trucks.

The case against one church member was dismissed when a different judge found Khanthaly not competent to testify. A second defendant pleaded to reduced charges and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

Dixon will serve the first 120 days of his sentence in Missouri's sexual offender assessment unit. His future after those four months will depend on recommendations from the SOAU.

Butler County Presiding Circuit Judge Mark Richardson said the report either will recommend placing Dixon on probation or that he remain at the SOAU to serve his sentence.

"I will follow their recommendation, regardless of what it is," Richardson said. "The keys to that prison cell will, in essence, be in your front pocket for the next 120 days."

Dixon, appearing calm throughout the hearing, was immediately taken into custody. He will likely remain at the Butler County jail until Friday, according to Richardson, when he will be transported to the SOAU.

The Keopraseuts had attended the Marble Hill Bible Church since they immigrated to the United States more than 20 years ago. They were able to leave war-torn Southeast Asia in the late 1970s because the church sponsored the Laotion couple and their five children.

Since arriving in the United States, the family has lived less than 50 feet from the church and attended weekly services.

The Keopraseut family declined to comment on the sentencing. They watched as the man they once trusted was searched and cuffed by a bailiff.

"The family is pleased that a resolution was made here," said Bollinger County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Gray. "Jury trials present a risk to both sides and... I agreed to this with their support."

In December 2002 Bollinger County charged Dixon with four counts of sexual assault and two charges of deviate sexual assault. The case came to Butler County in October 2005 on a change of venue.

Less than a day before his trial was scheduled to begin, Dixon pleaded guilty to the single charge of felony sexual assault.