Bakersfield resident pleads guilty to domestic assault, given suspended sentence, probation

During the March 9 Ozark County Law Day, Bakersfield resident Brandon J. Adams pleaded guilty to third-degree felony domestic assault as part of a plea agreement with the state.

He was sentenced to the Missouri Department of Corrections for a term of 4 years. The execution of the sentence was suspended, meaning Adams does not have to serve the prison sentence at this time; however the 4-year prison sentence can be enacted by a judge if Adams continually violates his probation. 

He was placed on supervised probation for a term of 5 years. Additional charges of first-degree burglary, second-degree sodomy and another third-degree domestic assault charge were dropped as part of the agreement.

According to the probable cause statement filed in the case by Ozark County Sheriff’s Sgt. Justin Brown, a woman came into the sheriff’s department and reported that Adams choked and slapped her, unlawfully restrained her by tying her up and sexually assaulted her. The report says that the woman did have red marks on her neck when photos of the incident were taken. 

She said that she fell asleep at some point that night and woke to Adams on top of her, saying he’d kill her if she made statements to the police. 

She said she was able to get away and ran to a neighbors’ residence, where she called her mom to come get her and bring her into the sheriff’s office to report the incident. 

Brown asked the woman if Adams was still at the residence, and she said she didn’t think he would be at the house and she gave the officer permission to enter and take evidentiary photos. 

Brown entered the residence and noted that the furniture was in the places the woman had said. In the bedroom there were ropes tied to the bed with slip knots in them, the report says. Brown took photos of the scene as part of the investigation.