The Camden County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is announcing several recent cases concerning sex offenders in Camden County. Of particular interest to the public are the two sentencing hearings held on Monday, April 23, 2018 at the Camden County Justice Center. Twenty-three year old Dustin R. Thomas of Osage Beach and forty-eight year old Gary D. Morton of Osage Beach were both sentenced to the Missouri Department of Corrections for their crimes.
In March of this year, Thomas was convicted in the Circuit Court of Camden County of three counts of Statutory Rape in the Second Degree, two counts of Statutory Sodomy in the Second Degree and two counts of Child Molestation in the 4th Degree. Thomas has been sentenced to 14 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Also in March of this year, Morton was convicted in the Circuit Court of Camden County of one count of Statutory Sodomy in the First Degree and two counts of Child Molestation in the First Degree. Morton has been sentenced to 20 years in the Department of Corrections.
Another sex offense case recently adjudicated in the Circuit Court of Camden County was the case against 28 year old Andrew W. Lester, of Linn Creek. On April 17, a jury of his peers found Lester guilty on five counts of Statutory Sodomy in the First Degree. Lester will be sentenced at a later date.
The CCPA would like to thank the hard work of the various law enforcement agencies who worked on these cases including the Camden County Sheriff’s Office, the Camdenton Police Department, the Osage Beach Police Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. With their help and inter-agency cooperation, these cases were brought to a just resolution.