Judge Orders Former Sheriff to Serve Jail Time, Extends Probation

By Echo Menges

Edina, MO – Tuesday, December 1, 2020 – Former Knox County Sheriff Robert Becker has been ordered to serve 20-days of shock incarceration and his probation has been extended for another year by Knox County Associate Circuit Judge Tom Redington.

Becker was nearing the end of a two-year supervised probationary period after pleading guilty to misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and domestic assault in 2018 while serving as the Knox County Sheriff. The admission effectively ended his career in law enforcement.

A motion to revoke Becker’s probation was filed by a special prosecutor in August alleging Becker was not engaging in sex offender counseling.

Judge Redington agreed.

The following court order was entered on November 25, 2020:

“11/25/20. Cause called on State’s Motion to Revoke Probation. Hearing held by Webex because of Pandemic concerns, pursuant to Supreme court Order. The State presents evidence that Defendant has not completed Sex Offender Counseling as directed by his Probation Officer. The Counselor testified, very credibly, that Defendant had not actively engaged in sex offender counseling, other than to deny that he needed the counseling, until early 2020, thereby wasting a year of time he could have been following the directive of the Probation Officer. Defendant offered no evidence to contradict this evidence. Therefore, pursuant to Section 559.016.3 RSMo. the Court extends Defendant’s probation an additional year to 12/20/21, per memo filed. Additionally, the Court also orders defendant to serve 20 days shock detention pursuant to Section 559.026(1), with the following conditions: 1- a minimum of 48 hours is to be served at a time; Defendant is to pay the board bill for the incarceration; Defendant is to complete the shock incarceration between 1/1/21 and 3/1/21 and to provide written proof of the incarceration for the Court’s review at a review hearing which is set on 3/9/21 at 1:30pm. TPR”