After 4 years in jail, Springfield man gets 2 life sentences for sexually abusing kids
Harrison KeeganA Springfield man who has been in the Greene County Jail for the last four-and-a-half years is headed to prison.
For a long time.
Johnny Cooper, 30, was sentenced Friday to two life sentences after he was found guilty of several felonies for sexually abusing multiple children.
The sentence was handed down by Judge Thomas Mountjoy, who also presided over Cooper's jury trial in August.
A news release from the Greene County Prosecutor's Office says that during the investigation, the three girls disclosed the abuse and then recanted because they were afraid of Cooper and did not think anyone would believe them since their own mother did not believe them.
Once Cooper was out of the girls' lives, they were able to go back and reaffirm their previous disclosures of abuse, according to the release.
According to previous News-Leader reporting, the incidents occurred between March 2006 and March 2014 at five different locations including the Missouri Hotel, the defunct homeless shelter operated by The Kitchen, Inc.
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