Janitor Who Masturbated In School Bathrooms Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison

LACLEDE COUNTY, Mo. — Jesse Warren Devore has been sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison, in the resolution of a high-profile sexual misconduct case where Devore was a janitor and exposed himself to children in Camdenton R-III School District school bathrooms.

Circuit Judge Kenneth Hayden sentenced Devore in the Laclede County Courthouse, on Friday, June 10.

Devore was found guilty by a unanimous jury after three hours of deliberation on all six counts of Sexual Misconduct - Indecent Exposure with a Juvenile under 15. The case has also resulted in multiple lawsuits against the Camdenton R-III School District.

On Friday, the prosecution asked for four years per charge, served consecutively, and Camden County Prosecutor Caleb Cunningham argued that due to the multiple offenses against minors, Jesse Devore had earned the maximum sentence.

“The defendant's reign of terror lasted almost a decade; for a third of his life he’s been committing these offenses and victimizing children,” Cunningham said. “Judge, I was disgusted to hear the defendant emboldened enough to blame everyone but himself. He blamed law enforcement, he blamed his mother. He’s never taken responsibility for what he’s done, and he won’t.”

On the contrary, the defense requested the case be acquitted, on the grounds that during jury selection the prosecution had asked if any of the jurors were members of the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), a well-known pedophilia advocacy group. The defense contended that question had violated the pretrial agreement to not label Devore a pedophile.

The defense also referenced Google Trends picking up the search term, “NAMBLA” and “Jesse Devore,” with those searches originating in southwest Missouri during the court’s lunch break time period a few hours after the prosecution's comment.

However, on Friday the prosecution effectively argued that due to the constraints of the motion (in limine), the defense would have had to object at the time — during the jury selection process — and the fact that the defense had waited this long to make the objection made it invalid. In the end, the judge agreed.

“It was one question, and the phrase 'pedophile' wasn’t used,” Hayden said. “I’m confident that the jury followed instructions unless presented with further evidence.”

The defense had also filed for separation of charges, arguing that the charges against Devore were too disconnected from one another to be tried together in a single trial as well as saying that the video that showed Devore masturbating in a Wal-Mart parking lot prejudiced the jury on charges that were not connected to that video (namely: the charges of Devore's misconduct in Camdenton schools, years later). The attempt to reset the case and have the charges separated was unsuccessful.

Multiple parents of victims spoke at the trial about the trauma that was inflicted on their children.

“My son couldn’t use the restroom for six months after what happened to him, and he resorted to urinating in his room. To this day he avoids public restrooms and still has trouble after what Devore did to him,” said the mother of one of the victims. “Our greatest fear now is Devore being free and another family enduring this, and I don’t think my son should endure this man being free either."

Another child’s father, a single parent, spoke about the trust he lost with the school system.

“Before this happened, I thought the school was somewhere I wouldn’t have to worry about him. Because I worry about him all the time," the father said.

Another mother took the stand to speak about the impact of the crime and subsequent trial on her child.

“My son is very athletic, he plays baseball and basketball. After the trial, he resigned from all sports. He didn’t leave his room for a week," she said, adding, "He says every time someone walks by his room, his heart stops."

The prosecution also played a call that Devore had from jail with his sister, In it, Devore was recorded saying he blamed law enforcement for not stopping him sooner.

“It’s his fault because they did extensive background checks in the school, I don’t know why they let me work at the school,” Devore said on the call. He continued, “How could you blame me for anything when an officer allowed me to be there to begin with? I was charged ten years later that I should have been charged with when it happened."

Explaining his sentencing, Judge Hayden referenced the escalation of behavior, the multiple offenses and the offenses that appeared to happen purposely in front of children (the escalation from a Walmart parking lot, a public place that may or may not have children present, to the school bathroom that would certainly have children present).

“You know right from wrong, and yet you continue to expose yourself to children," Hayden said to Devore. "These are not separate incidents."

Hearing the sentence of 20 years, Devore did not visibly react, other than to stare down at the table in front of him.