NEW ASSISTANT PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
Dustin Birch joined the Christian County Prosecutor’s Office in December of 2016. Dustin received his undergraduate degree Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL with a Bachelor’s Degree in Law Enforcement and Justice Administration. Dustin received his Juris Doctor from Arizona Summit Law School in Phoenix, AZ.
MARK ADAM PEIRANO SENTENCED AS A PREDATORY SEXUAL OFFENDER TO SIX LIFE SENTENCES
OZARK, MO – The Christian County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced that on December 19, 2016, MARK ADAM PEIRANO dob: 07/24/1972 formerly of Spokane Missouri was sentenced by the Honorable Judge Eighmy as a predatory sexual offender to six life sentences. The court ran the life sentences concurrently.
Previously on August 25, 2016, Peirano was found guilty by a Christian County jury of committing one count of statutory sodomy in the first degree of a child less than twelve and five counts of child molestation in the first degree. Further, Peirano was also found to be a predatory sexual offender. The child victim in this case was a relative of Periano’s. The predatory sexual offender finding was based on testimony from another relative of Periano’s regarding years of sexual victimization by Periano.
The only available sentence for a predatory sexual offender is life. In this case, in addition to sentencing the defendant the court is responsible to set the number of years the defendant must serve before becoming eligible to be considered for parole. Judge Eighmy set the term of years at 30 years for Count I and at 15 years for each of the remaining counts.
The range of punishment statutory sodomy in the first degree of a child less than twelve and child molestation in the first degree when the offender has been found to be a predatory sexual offender is a life sentence with eligibility for parole. The number of years the offender must serve prior to being eligible for parole is determined by the court and must be a number of years within the range to which the person could have been sentenced if not found to be a predatory sexual offender. Pursuant to current statute the range of punishment for statutory sodomy in the first degree of a child less than twelve is a term of years not less than ten or life. The range of punishment for child molestation in the first degree class B felony is five years to fifteen years. Pursuant to current statute an offender found to be a predatory sexual offender shall not receive a final discharge from parole.
The investigation of this case was handled by Sgt. Shayne Duryea of the Christian County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Prosecuting Attorney Amy Fite with First Assistant Kristen Tuohy assisting during the jury trial.