A Huntsville man was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections after pleading guilty in Lewis County Circuit Court to two counts of second-degree statutory sodomy and one count of abuse or neglect of a child.
Johnathon Scott Taylor, of Huntsville, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Counts 1, 6, and 16 in case 24LE-CR00281, according to the judgment. Circuit Judge Matthew Wilson imposed six years in the Department of Corrections on each of those counts. Count 6 was ordered to run consecutive to Count 1, and Count 16 was ordered to run concurrent with Count 1. Probation was denied. Taylor was also ordered to pay a $46 Crime Victims' Compensation judgment.
The Case.net charges listing shows guilty pleas Thursday on second-degree statutory sodomy, a class D felony under Revised Statutes of Missouri 566.064, with an offense date of June 1, 2020; second-degree statutory sodomy under the same statute, with an offense date of April 9, 2017; and abuse or neglect of a child under Section 568.060.5(1) with no sexual contact, a class D felony under Revised Statutes of Missouri 568.060, with an offense date of April 3, 2022. The Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop B office in Macon is listed as the law enforcement agency on each count.
Court records show the case began in Macon County as 24MA-CR00090, filed March 6, 2024. Associate Circuit Judge David Craig Mobley bound Taylor over to the circuit court after a preliminary hearing Aug. 29, 2024. Case 24MA-CR00090-01 was filed Sept. 4, 2024, and was later transferred by change of venue to Lewis County, where it was docketed as 24LE-CR00281. The Lewis County case header lists a change of venue from Macon County.
Assistant Attorney General Paige Kristyn Wheeler filed an amended information Nov. 4, 2026, the day before the plea, according to the Lewis County docket. Court records list Anne Marie Beckerle and W. Scott Rose as attorneys for Taylor.
A jury trial that had been set to begin Dec. 15, 2026, in Lewis County was cancelled after the plea and sentencing Thursday.