KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) - A former Missouri dentist has been sentenced to prison for offering bribes to protect a friend accused of molesting a teenage boy.
Seventy-two-year-old Stephen Barber, of Kirksville, was convicted in June of two counts of felony witness tampering. KTVO reports (http://bit.ly/r1ktst ) that Barber was sentenced Wednesday in Adair County Circuit Court to five years on each count, to be served concurrently.
Barber was charged with offering a family $150,000 in 2008 to withhold cooperation in the molestation case against his friend Thomas Oswald, a former attorney in Kirksville. Oswald is serving a seven-year sentence for sexual contact with a 15-year-old boy.
Barber has lost his dental license. He apologized in court Wednesday for his actions.
His attorney says an appeal is possible.
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Information from: KTVO-TV, http://www.ktvotv3.com