Jasper County man once given 7 life terms for sexual abuse resentenced

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri man who was once sentenced to seven life terms for child sexual abuse has been resentenced to two concurrent 12-year sentences.

Marcus Yoder was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to two counts of statutory rape. Yoder was given seven life sentences in 2016 after he pleaded guilty to several counts of statutory rape and statutory sodomy. The guilty plea was set aside in 2020 after a judge ruled Yoder did not fully understand the consequences of his plea.

Yoder, who once lived in Webb City and Carthage, is currently imprisoned at a state prison in Licking. He will be given credit for time he has already served.

Ex-Kansas sheriff’s official faces child porn, sex counts

WAKEENY, Kan. (AP) – A former official with a western Kansas sheriff’s office has been arrested on charges of trafficking in child pornography and sex crimes involving children.

Blaine Dryden, 62, of WaKenney, was arrested Wednesday on a warrant charging him with aggravated internet trading of child pornography and several counts of sexual exploitation of a child, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

The alleged crimes occurred between November 2019 and last June, while Dryden was a lieutenant with the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, investigators said. Dryden was placed on administrative leave by the Ellis County sheriff when the department learned of the investigation, and his employment with the office ended in July.

Dryden was being held in the Graham County Jail on $750,000 bond.