Editor's note: The original version of this story had an incorrect jail booking date. Azar was booked into the Greene County jail on March 7, 2024.
An Ozark man convicted of sexually abusing a child in Greene County was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Friday, May 31.
Aaron R. Azar, 34, was found guilty in March 2024 of first-degree child molestation, third-degree child molestation, attempted enticement of a child, first-degree statutory sodomy and attempted statutory sodomy. Azar was convicted in a bench trial by Greene County Circuit Judge Todd Myers.
According to the probable cause statement, the victim was given a forensic interview at the Child Advocacy Center. During that interview, the victim disclosed Azar had been sexually abusing her for years.
The investigating officer noted that Azar was arrested in 2013 for statutory sodomy and child molestation in Camden County, but the prosecutor dismissed that case because the victim no longer wished to cooperate with investigators.
“(Azar) should not have the opportunity to create another victim ever again,” Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Fax said at the sentencing hearing. “These are the most heinous crimes a person can commit, a crime against a child — the most vulnerable classification of people in our community.”
Azar is in the Greene County jail, awaiting transportation to a Missouri Department of Corrections prison.
Myers sentenced Azar to 10 years for Count I, the class B felony of first-degree child molestation; 10 years for Count II, felony attempted enticement of a child; 15 years for Count III, first-degree statutory sodomy; 10 years for Count IV, the class C felony of third-degree child molestation; and 15 years for Count V, first-degree statutory sodomy.
In accordance with Missouri law and sentencing guidelines, counts I, II and IV are to be served concurrently to each other but consecutive to counts III and V. Count III must run consecutive to Count V.
