Stone Co. man found guilty of sexually abusing children
BRANSON MO NEWS: A Stone County man was recently found guilty of sexually abusing young girls.
Gary Pickron, 73, was found guilty of first degree statutory sodomy, child molestation, and sexual misconduct with a child, according to Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby. After a three-day trial, a jury deliberated for about two hours before reaching the verdict, Selby said. He was found guilty on seven counts.
Charges were originally filed in early 2015 after two young girls, ages 4 and 5, disclosed to a relative that the defendant had touched them on their genitals with his hands and mouth after visiting at his house in Reeds Spring over Christmas break. The incidents were reported to the Stone County Sheriff’s Office and interviewed by investigators. The videos of the interviews were later played at trial. After charges were filed, additional victims came forward and disclosed that they had been sexually abused by the defendant going back as far as 1995. These incidents also involved young girls visiting at the Pickron’s home in Reeds Spring. Additional charges were filed.
“This was an important case because we presented evidence that this defendant has had some type of sexual contact with at least eight young children over more than 20 years,” said Selby said in a press release “It was time for it to stop and to stop for good.”
Selby also highlighted the importance of “propensity” evidence and of the Child Advocacy Center. Selby said that in “2014 Missouri citizens passed a constitutional amendment giving the judge in a child sex abuse case the authority to allow evidence that the defendant has sexually abused children before. At that time, we were the only state in the union that didn’t allow that type of evidence. In this case we were able to present evidence from three witnesses that the defendant committed …
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