Story Published:
Jan 23, 2009 at 2:25 PM CST
Story Updated:
Jan 23, 2009 at 4:43 PM CST
NEOSHO, Mo. -- The ex-leader of the Village of Collins in St. Clair County received a four-year prison sentence on Friday but he might not have to serve it. Allen Kauffman pleaded guilty for sexual misconduct with a child.
Circuit Judge Tim Perigo ordered Kauffman to serve a 120-day sentence in a sex offender assessment program at the Missouri Department of Corrections. At the end of that program, based on the report that the judge gets from DOC, Perigo will decide whether Kauffman, 63, will serve his prison sentence or be on probation.
An undercover detective posing as a girl caught Kauffman in an Internet sting a year ago. The detective says Kauffman tried to arrange a sexual liaison with the girl.
Prosecutors dropped several other charges against Kauffman in exchange for his guilty plea on Dec. 1.
Kauffman was chairman of the board of Collins, a village position equivalent to a mayor of a town or city. He resigned that position, as well as a pastorship of a church, after he was charged last January..
