On Thursday, July 12, 2018, MICHAEL S. TYSON, d/o/b 11-14-1975, of Hollister, was sentenced to twenty (20) years in prison in the Circuit Court of Taney County, Missouri, for one count of statutory sodomy in the first degree, one count of statutory rape in the first degree, eight (8) counts of sexual exploitation of a minor child, and one count of possession of child pornography, consecutive to a federal sentence. In April of this year, Tyson appeared in custody before Christian County Circuit Judge Jennifer Growcock and admitted to having sexual intercourse and committing acts of sodomy on a minor child. On Thursday, Judge Growcock heard sentencing arguments from Tyson’s attorney and from Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Shana Mora, of the Taney County Prosecutor’s Office, before she ordered Tyson to serve his prison sentence for the State of Missouri consecutive to his current federal sentence of thirty (30) years.

On April 7, 2015, officers from the Hollister Police Department responded to Cox Hospital in reference to a report of a past child molestation. The responding officer made contact with the mother of the child who advised the officer that her child had disclosed that Tyson, the mother’s boyfriend, had been hurting the child. The mother further discovered that Tyson had also been sexually abusing the child. A few days later the child was interviewed at the Lakes Area Child Advocacy Center. During that interview, the child disclosed that Tyson had engaged in several acts of sodomy and rape. The child also disclosed that Tyson recorded some of these incidents on his phone.

On April 10, 2015, based on the disclosures of the child, officers from the Hollister Police Department executed a search warrant at Tyson’s residence. During the search of the residence, officers found an abundance of sex toys and several electronic devices. Detective Sanders of the Hollister Police Department sent those electronic devices to MOCIC (Mid-States Organized Crime Information Center) for review. Analysts at MOCIC later advised Detective Sanders that several images and videos of child pornography were found on Tyson’s electronic devices.

“I could not be more proud of how Ms. Mora represented this office in sentencing, and how she represented the citizens of Taney County throughout the course of handling this case,” said Taney County Prosecutor Jeff Merrell. “We were not about to budge on the fact that Mr. Tyson should have to serve consecutive prison time, on top of his federal prison sentence. The victims deserve whatever peace-of-mind might come from knowing their abuser is staying in custody for as long as possible.”