Vernard Deatherage, Jr., was given six years in prison after pleading guilty to a number of charges against him during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
The charges against the 46-year-old Deatherage, who is currently an inmate in the state prison system on an earlier convictions, include failure to register as a sex offender and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
The new sentence will run concurrently with the time Deatherage is now serving.
The latest charges filed against him were the result of an animal theft complaint received by the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office in early February. The alleged victim accused Deatherage and a female companion, who was also the daughter of the victim, of stealing cats and with threatening harm to her remaining cats.
As investigators looked into the cat theft allegation, it was found that Deatherage was a sex offender who had not registered with the local law enforcement as required, and was also a parole absconder. A search warrant was served on Deatherage’s residence in the Gassville area and officers found suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Deatherage was convicted of statutory rape and sodomy in Douglas County, Missouri in February 2002 involving two nine-year-old girls, making him subject to sex offender requirements.
Deatherage is currently an inmate in the North Central Unit of the state prison system at Calico Rock.
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