John Michael Cleary is shown being escorted from the Knox County Courthouse by Knox and Adair County law enforcement back to the Adair County Jail following his jury trial late Friday afternoon, June 3, 2022. Photo by Echo Menges
By Echo Menges
Edina, MO – Friday, June 3, 2022 – A Knox County Jury has found John Michael Cleary, 76, of Kirksville, guilty of one count of first-degree Statutory Sodomy with a child under 12-years-old, a Class B felony, and three felony counts of child molestation.
The twelve-person jury recommended to the court that Cleary be sentenced to life in prison plus 45 years.
The daylong trial, including a pre-trial conference, jury selection, trial proceedings, and jury deliberations, began early Friday morning and concluded at around 4:15 p.m.
The case, No. 20AR-CR00348-01, was moved to Knox County on a change of venue from Adair County in March of this year. Knox County Associate Circuit Judge Tom Redington presided over the case.
Originally, Cleary was facing two more first-degree statutory sodomy charges alleged to have occurred in 2009 and 2010, which the jury found the defendant not guilty of.
Cleary represented himself in court and chose not to question any of the three witnesses, nor did the defendant present opening or closing arguments.
The case began in 2019 when Cleary turned himself in to law enforcement at the Kirksville Police Department and confessed to touching two children. One child was approximately five-years-old at the time the molestations began in 2009, according to court documents and testimony in court.
Another child, who was developmentally delayed and five-years-old at the time of the molestation in 2012, was molested at the Lake Road Chapel Church located outside of Kirksville during a church service, according to court testimony and court documents.
Three witnesses took the stand during the trial including KPD Sgt. Steve Feeney who investigated the case in 2019, Lisa Tillison who witnessed Cleary molest a child at the church during a church service in 2012, and one of the victims whose name is not being released by this newspaper.
The jury was also shown the audio/video interview of Cleary’s confession to Sgt. Feeney.
The jury deliberated for roughly one hour and 34 minutes before delivering their verdicts. They asked several questions and asked to watch the confession interview again during the deliberations process before making their decisions.
More information about the trial and testimony will be released in an upcoming edition of The Edina Sentinel.
