Butler County man gets 28 years for attacking eighth-grader

BENTON, Mo. -- A Butler County man will spend 28 years in prison for an attack on a volleyball player at the Poplar Bluff Junior High School last year.

Todd Michael Oliver, 19, was sentenced Thursday after earlier pleading guilty to attempted forcible sodomy.

Oliver attacked an eighth-grade volleyball player in a junior high restroom before a March 24 game. Authorities said Oliver choked the 14-year-old and told her to perform sexual acts.

When she resisted, he continued to choke, punch her and beat her head against a concrete wall. Oliver fled after a maintenance worker came to investigate.

Oliver was arrested two days later in Topeka, Kan., and extradited back to Poplar Bluff.

At the sentencing hearing, the girl's father, who has not been identified to protect the privacy of the victim, said the girl suffered broken bones and other injuries.

"I have never seen a young girl beaten so badly, and this was my daughter, my only child, beaten beyond recognition. Her little forehead was swelled so much she looked deformed."

The victim missed the rest of the 2003 volleyball season and later quit the team. The child's father said the girl suffers dizzy spells under stress, her grades have fallen and she acts aggressively toward her parents.

An attorney for Oliver, Mike Pritchett of Poplar Bluff, said Oliver had a bipolar disorder and a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Several people testified that the crime was out of character for Oliver.

"Todd admits he has a problem," Pritchett said. "What Todd really needs is treatment, not jail."