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Independence, MO —
Randy Lande of Independence pleaded guilty Monday to multiple counts of rape of an 8-year-old girl in a 2011 case that raised controversy among local lawmakers and residents about sex offender registration.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced that Lande, 47, pleaded guilty to 12 felony counts – forcible rape, statutory rape in the first degree, five counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree and five counts of forcible sodomy. He also pleaded guilty of a misdemeanor or supplying liquor to a minor.
Lande will serve 30 years in prison for the crimes as part of a plea agreement. He received 30 years for each felony and 1 year for the misdemeanor, and all will run concurrently.
According to court documents, on Feb. 3, 2011, Lande repeatedly raped and sodomized the girl to the point that she had to be hospitalized and required surgery for internal bleeding and wounds on her head.
Lande, whose registered address was 415 W. Farmer St. in Independence, had reportedly been staying with friends in a home on the 600 block of North Pleasant Street, where the 8-year-old had gone for a birthday party with two young girls who lived there. Lande had slept on a living room couch the night after the birthday party. The children had slept in a bedroom.
The next morning the man in the home could not find the victim. Eventually he and his wife found her upstairs. Police were called, and she told them that Lande had given her some whiskey and sexually abused her “all night.” The girl identified Lande as “Mom’s new boyfriend.”
Court documents show that Lande came back to the North Pleasant home and became very upset and said he was “tired of this (expletive).” He grabbed sheets from the bed, a pack of beer and left.
Independence police stopped him moments later and arrested him.
The case caused controversy in 2011 because the home Lande was living in on Farmer Street and the North Pleasant Street home where he was visiting were within 1,000 feet near the First Baptist Church of Independence at 500 W. Truman Road, which includes a child-care center.
State Sen. Victor Callahan, D-Independence then proposed an amendment to legislation to help prevent future circumstances of a registered sex offender living near a church-affiliated child-care facility by treating those facilities just like public schools and non-religious child-care facilities, which are protected under Missouri statutes. That bill was passed in June 2011 and went into effect Aug 28, 2011.
Randy Lande of Independence pleaded guilty Monday to multiple counts of rape of an 8-year-old girl in a 2011 case that raised controversy among local lawmakers and residents about sex offender registration.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced that Lande, 47, pleaded guilty to 12 felony counts – forcible rape, statutory rape in the first degree, five counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree and five counts of forcible sodomy. He also pleaded guilty of a misdemeanor or supplying liquor to a minor.
Lande will serve 30 years in prison for the crimes as part of a plea agreement. He received 30 years for each felony and 1 year for the misdemeanor, and all will run concurrently.
According to court documents, on Feb. 3, 2011, Lande repeatedly raped and sodomized the girl to the point that she had to be hospitalized and required surgery for internal bleeding and wounds on her head.
Lande, whose registered address was 415 W. Farmer St. in Independence, had reportedly been staying with friends in a home on the 600 block of North Pleasant Street, where the 8-year-old had gone for a birthday party with two young girls who lived there. Lande had slept on a living room couch the night after the birthday party. The children had slept in a bedroom.
The next morning the man in the home could not find the victim. Eventually he and his wife found her upstairs. Police were called, and she told them that Lande had given her some whiskey and sexually abused her “all night.” The girl identified Lande as “Mom’s new boyfriend.”
Court documents show that Lande came back to the North Pleasant home and became very upset and said he was “tired of this (expletive).” He grabbed sheets from the bed, a pack of beer and left.
Independence police stopped him moments later and arrested him.
The case caused controversy in 2011 because the home Lande was living in on Farmer Street and the North Pleasant Street home where he was visiting were within 1,000 feet near the First Baptist Church of Independence at 500 W. Truman Road, which includes a child-care center.
State Sen. Victor Callahan, D-Independence then proposed an amendment to legislation to help prevent future circumstances of a registered sex offender living near a church-affiliated child-care facility by treating those facilities just like public schools and non-religious child-care facilities, which are protected under Missouri statutes. That bill was passed in June 2011 and went into effect Aug 28, 2011.
It also caused controversy that Lande had been allowed to slip through the cracks of the law as a previous sex offender.
Sgt. Ronda Montgomery of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said several law enforcement agencies attempted to contact registered sex offenders, including Lande, in a sweep of Jackson County in June 2010.
“We did attempt to contact him, but he wasn’t at his residence,” Montgomery said of Lande, a former resident of Belton. “In that case, we had no reason to believe he was in noncompliance of the law.”
Lande had been previously registered as a sex offender based on an incident that occurred more than 20 years ago in Cass County. Lande reportedly sodomized a 5-year-old girl who, 20 years later, brought the case to authorities.
Lande appeared before Cass County Circuit Judge Jacqueline Cook in 2009. Because no physical evidence was available, prosecutors reached a plea agreement: three years in prison as a baseline sentence, but at least a 120-day evaluation before probation would even become an option.
By doing so, the state was able to register Lande as a sex offender, which would not have happened had the case gone to trial and led to an acquittal, which was likely, due to the time that had passed and the lack of evidence.
Cook released Lande on five years probation following his 120-day evaluation. A transcript of the November 2009 hearing, from which she decided to release Lande, was provided to The Examiner.
In it, the Department of Corrections’ Sexual Offenders Unit did not explain why it did not recommend Lande’s release. Lande’s attorney, public defender John Clark, told the court that Lande “scored zero in his Static-99 Scale, which is in the low risk category to re-offend.” However, the report did focus on Lande’s alcohol use.
A personality assessment inventory did not reveal any psychosis, according to the report.
“They found him to be pleasant and cooperative,” Clark said during the hearing. “I understand there was a problem with his home plan, but it would seem the conclusion contradicts the report as a whole.”
Cook agreed, according to the transcript.
“The court has reviewed the report and, frankly, the report was all fairly favorable until we got to the very end,” Cook said. “I, likewise, was somewhat confused why the recommendation was for denial.”
An assistant prosecutor, Monica Penrose, said that if Lande was released, he should be ordered to stay at a halfway house, which he was, and Cook told the defendant what she expected.
“If I grant this release, Mr. Lande, and you go out and drink while you’re on my probation, that is a straight ticket to DOC. Drinking will lessen inhibitions and leads to the problems you have,” the transcript reads.
Following his release, the Cass County prosecutor’s office monitored what it could of Lande’s lifestyle and location. He moved to Jackson County and had child support issues, appearing in a Cass County court for failure to pay. A warrant was issued for his arrest on Jan. 24, this year, and 10 days later police stopped him following the incident on North Pleasant Street.
