Missouri Sheriff Resigns after Pleading Guilty to 2 Crimes

A rural northeast Missouri sheriff will resign after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges of sexual abuse and domestic assault.

Knox County Sheriff Robert Becker was charged, pleaded guilty and sentenced all on Wednesday. He received a suspended sentence and was placed on probation for two years. He also must resign by Dec. 31, surrender his law enforcement license, and enroll in sex offender treatment.

A probable cause statement provided by the Missouri attorney general’s office, which handled the prosecution, says Becker choked a woman with whom he was romantically involved in December 2017. The statement says that in April, as Missouri State Highway Patrol officers were searching the woman’s home during a crime investigation, Becker forced her to perform a sex act.

Becker, a 51-year-old Republican, was elected in 2016.