A Springfield man with a criminal history of sexually abusing children under the age of 10 was ordered to serve two life sentences without the chance of parole Aug. 25.
Randy Howard Law, 59, was found guilty of two counts of first degree statutory sodomy in a jury trial earlier in 2023. The charges stem from incidents that happened in 2017 involving an 8-year-old girl.
At the sentencing hearing Aug. 25, a teenage girl and man sat in the first row of the mostly empty courtroom gallery.
When Law was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs, Law looked at the man and girl. The man then stood up and positioned himself between Law and the girl so that Law could not look at her.
The girl left the courtroom a few moments later.
Criminal history spans decades
Law was already a registered sex offender for assaults that happened in 2003 which resulted in a first-degree statutory rape and two first-degree statutory sodomy convictions. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for those crimes.
According to Missouri State Highway Patrol Sex Offender Registry, the victims in the 2003 sexual assaults were a 10–year-old girl and 9-year-old boy.
When Law was found guilty for the 2017 incidents involving the 8-year-old female victim, the “life without the possibility of parole” sentences became mandatory because Law is a persistent sexual offender, according to Missouri statutes.
After reading the sentences, Greene County Circuit Judge David Jones said to Law, “It’s a tough statute.”
Prior to the sentencing, prosecutor Conner Harris read a letter from the victim to Law.
In the letter, the girl told Law that his abuse will affect her the rest of her life.
“Because you couldn’t control yourself as a grown man, I have to live with trauma, depression, fear, anger […] and broken trust,” she wrote in part. “You don’t deserve to walk the earth.”
The victim ended her letter to Law with: “Truly, rot painfully in hell.”
When Judge David Jones read the sentences and confirmed they would run consecutively, the man in the front row of the courtroom cried and said “thank you.”
Judge grants defendant's jail request
Earlier in the hearing, Law had asked the judge if he could remain in the Greene County Jail in Springfield for two more weeks before being sent to a state prison.
When Jones asked Law why, Law responded: “I’m not at liberty to say.” Still, Jones granted Law’s request and said he would let the jail staff know.
Law said he intends to appeal the sentence.
As the hearing came to a close, Law said to Jones, “God bless you in your retirement.”
