ARTHUR R. FINCH, d/o/b 9-01-1939, of Rio Verde, Arizona, entered a guilty plea Thursday, March 17, 2016, in the Circuit Court of Taney County, to the unclassified felony of statutory sodomy in the first degree. Finch admitted to using his hand or fingers to touch the genitals of a child between December of 1996 and December of 2004, at his home near Rockaway Beach, Missouri.

Finch has no agreement with the Taney County Prosecutor’s Office regarding what sentence he will receive. Punishment for the unclassified felony of statutory sodomy in the first degree – for engaging in deviate sexual intercourse with a child under the age of twelve (12) years – ranges from ten (10) years in the Missouri Department of Corrections up to life. Circuit Court Judge Laura Johnson scheduled sentencing for May 19, 2016.