Stover Sex Offender Expected In Court Today For Pre-Trial Hearing

A Stover man will be in court today (Monday) for a pre-trial hearing, after failing twice to register as a sex offender in Morgan County.

According to courthouse records, 69-year-old Henry O’Neil Hicks Jr of Stover has a history of violating court orders related to sex offenses, and failures to register as a sex offender.

He originally plead guilty to several charges in 2016, resulting in a suspended sentence & probation for loitering near a childcare facility, among other charges.

Hicks was free on bond in October 2022 and failed to appear at his hearing, while simultaneously failing to re-register as a sex offender, thus leading to his arrest in September of this year.

A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for today (Monday) October 23^rd with Judge Aaron Koeppen, while a jury trial has been set for February 5th, 2024.

He’s being held in the Morgan County Jail.

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Hicks was originally charged in 2016 with Sex Offender Physically Present Loitering Within 500 Feet of Childcare Facility When Child Younger than 18 Years Old Present, A Class A Misdemeanor charge, with Hicks pleading guilty and serving no time, with a Suspended sentence of 1 year in Missouri Department of Corrections to 2 years Supervised Probation.

He violated probation in that case and was back in Morgan County custody in 2018. Hicks was denied a public defender for some time due to conflicts in their office and he remained in custody awaiting a hearing. Stephen Concannon was finally assigned in October 2018 to represent Hicks.

In November 2018, the Morgan County Prosecutor’s Office withdrew the case and Hicks was to continue probation with the offender being released and registered per court documents to the Children’s Central Registry of Missouri Department of Social Services. That probation ended June 2019.

In 2018, Hicks was charged with Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, a class D Felony, and was once again in custody in Morgan County. In November 2018, Hicks was remanded to the Missouri Department of Corrections for 5 years to be served concurrently with a 5-year sentence for the same charges in July 2018. In November 2021, an arrest warrant from March 2021 was served, with Hicks in custody again in Morgan County.

In October 2022, he was out on bond and failed to appear in a motion hearing on his case. A jury trial has been cancelled three times. Hicks continues to be rereleased to the community.

The three counts charged as failing to register as a sex offender related to Hick’s recent arrest are to be heard in the upcoming October 23rd hearing.