Cape man makes plea-bargain deal

A Cape Girardeau man who would have faced a jury trial next week for four counts of sexual assault plea-bargained instead and was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison.

David Matthew Burton, 29, was charged in October with one count of felony statutory rape and three counts of felony statutory sodomy. He is accused of having had deviant sexual relations with a girl beginning when she was 9 and continuing until she was 11.

Cape Girardeau County Assistant Prosecutor Angel Woodruff said she made the plea agreement to keep the victim from having to testify.

"It's a very traumatic, horrible thing for a child to have to do," Woodruff said. "If we can avoid that and get justice, then that's what we do."

Associate Circuit Judge John Heisserer imposed the sentence with the stipulation that Burton serve at least 85 percent of the 12 years --10.2 years -- before he is eligible for parole.

Had the jury trial proceeded, Burton would have, if convicted, faced life in prison.

Woodruff said that of the four counts against him, one carried a maximum sentence of 10 years; the sentence for the other three ranged from 10 years to life.