JC man gets 40 years in sexual assault case

A Jefferson City man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after a Cole County jury found him guilty in March following a second trial in a sexual assault case that dates back to April 2015.

Kevin Struempf, 33, was charged with two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy. Cole County Presiding Judge Pat Joyce sentenced him Thursday.

In the first trial in August, a Cole County jury found Struempf guilty of both counts.

However, in October, Joyce granted a motion for a new trial. It was discovered after the August trial the victim had not been sworn in correctly for a video deposition. Struempf's defense argued the victim was not read an oath prior to her testimony and the jury's verdict in this matter rests on unsworn testimony. This prompted the judge to grant a second trial.

The victim was a then-3-year-old girl, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement.

A relative of the victim took the girl to University Hospital in Columbia, where medical personnel said she had suffered bruising consistent with sexual assault injuries.

During a forensic interview with the victim, she told authorities Struempf had touched her in the vaginal area, along with other sexual acts.