A Willow Springs man faces severe felony sexual assault charges following a Howell County grand jury indictment.
Gary A. Burk, 44, has been charged with first-degree statutory rape and first-degree rape. Court records show the grand jury returned the true bill indictment June 10, and a related arrest warrant was served on Burk by the Howell County Sheriff’s Office on June 17.
Burk is held in the Howell County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bond. He has pleaded not guilty after waiving formal arraignment, according to court records. Following his initial appearance, Burk's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Lacon Smith of Springfield, filed a motion for a change of judge. Burk was scheduled to appear in court Monday for a counsel status hearing before 37th Circuit Presiding Judge Steven Privette; updates were not available as of press time Tuesday.
The indictment notes the alleged assault happened on or before April 3, 2019, and involved a child younger than 14.
The first-degree rape charge is categorized as an aggravated sexual offense under Missouri law due to the age of the victim and the defendant’s position of authority at the time of the alleged offense. The indictment alleges Burk had sexual intercourse with a person incapable of consent due to youth and unable to “make a reasonable judgment as to the nature or harmfulness” of the act.
The case is being prosecuted by Howell County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Hutchings and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Rizwan Ahad.
PRIOR HISTORY
Court records show Burk has a history of similar allegations and separate criminal convictions in Howell County. In August 2019, he was charged with two felony counts of second-degree child molestation stemming from alleged incidents in Willow Springs and West Plains.
Later, in late August 2023, Burk was charged with six counts of second-degree child molestation involving a victim younger than 17. While the timeline of the alleged 2023 incidents aligns with the April 2019 framework of the current grand jury indictment, both the 2019 and 2023 molestation cases have since been removed from public electronic court databases, leaving it unclear if they are legally connected to the new charges.
Burk also has prior drug convictions. In January 2023, he pleaded guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance and received a seven-year prison sentence, which was suspended in favor of supervised probation. His probation was revoked in March 2024, at which point he was ordered into a 120-day institutional treatment program. He was released back onto a five-year term of supervised probation in October 2024.
CENTERED NAMELINE (ALL CAPS)
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