A Nixa man started serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex crimes against a child in 2020.
Donald Whitworth, 69, made an Alford plea to a charge of statutory sodomy with a person less than 12 years of age, and two charges of first-degree child molestation. An Alford plea occurs when a defendant in a criminal court case declines to admit guilt, but admits that prosecuting attorneys have enough evidence mounted against him/her to result in a conviction if the case were to go through a trial.
Christian County Presiding Judge Laura Johnson sentenced Whitworth to 10 years in prison on the sodomy plea and 10 years in prison on each of the child molestation pleas. The judge ordered that the sentence for molestation run consecutive to the sentence for sodomy, meaning that Whitworth is sentenced to a total of 20 years in a state prison.