On Wednesday, September 25, 2019, Taney County Associate Circuit Court Judge Eric Eighmy sentenced ROBERT J. HYSLOP, d/o/b 10-07-1969, to twenty (20) years in prison for one count of sexual abuse in the first degree and two counts of kidnapping in the first degree.

Hyslop pleaded guilty to kidnapping two people from a Hollister parking lot in the early morning hours of October 29, 2018. The victims, who were sleeping in their car, were awakened when Hyslop broke a window of the car with a hammer. Hyslop was also armed with what appeared to a handgun. Hyslop entered the vehicle and forced the victims to drive to another location, where he committed the additional offense of sexual abuse. He then returned the victims to the parking lot before leaving the area in his own car.

The Taney County Sheriff’s Department investigated the offense and their efforts made this prosecution possible. They recovered physical evidence as well as a surveillance recording of Hyslop near the scene of the kidnapping. Hyslop was apprehended in Taney County during a traffic stop less than two weeks later, when a deputy recognized him from a description provided by the victims.

Kidnapping in the first degree and sexual abuse in the first degree are class B felonies. Normally the range of punishment for a class B felony is five (5) to fifteen (15) years in prison. Because Hyslop had previously been found guilty of two or more other felonies, the range of punishment for his offenses was ten (10) to thirty (30) years or life in prison.