In Barton County District Court Tuesday afternoon, Jeffrey Allen Rankin received the maximum sentence on two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Judge Richard Smith sentenced Rankin to 10 years and eight months (128 months) in prison on one charge and 34 months on the second, with the two running consecutively, for a total of 13 and a half years.
The afternoon sentencing hearing included emotional and graphic testimony from Rankin’s ex-wife Denise Rankin and her daughters.
Rankin entered a guilty plea on Feb. 2 to the two counts.
Each of the two guilty pleas was to a charge that Rankin had a digital image — thumbdata embedded jpgs — in which a person under 18 was shown engaging in sexually explicit conduct, on March 16, 2016. Sexual exploitation of a child is a level 5 person felony.
The original charges alleged crimes against two minors, dating from as early as July 1, 2011.
He was originally charged with 31 counts, including rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child under 14 years old, sexual exploitation of a child, stalking and violation of protective orders.

Court services score reconsidered
As the hearing opened, Smith stated there was an objection to Rankin’s criminal history score, and he would first handle that objection before moving onto the sentencing portion of the hearing.
Assistant County Attorney Doug Matthews raised the objection. He advanced an argument that the court should take into consideration Rankin’s juvenile adjudications from the 1980s, which would alter the score from a “c” to a “b,” making him eligible for a longer sentence. He cited the 2015 recodification of sentencing laws which declared juvenile adjudications do not decay. He noted that since the plea agreement was made, at least half-a-dozen juvenile adjudications for low-level person felonies, described as criminal threats, had been discovered. Since this was the code at the time the crimes were committed, Matthews asked the court to consider these cases.
Attorney Benjamin J Fisher spoke for the defense, arguing that in the 2015 code, the Legislature had intended low-level person felonies to indeed decay, and asked the court to maintain the given score.
Judge Smith shared that he had sat on the recodification commission, and agreed there were problems with the law. He did not fault court services with their interpretation of the score, but determined that because the law was indeed substantive, he would consider Rankin’s criminal history. He ruled that he would sustain the State’s objection and base sentencing off the higher score.

Defense asks for leniency
That decided, Fisher then requested the court depart from the standard sentence; rather than incarceration, his client could be helped in a community-based treatment program, and should be allowed to serve probation with the understanding that if he broke the conditions he would return to jail. Fisher also requested that upon completion of the sentence, Rankin would be subject to community corrections for five years.
His client, he stated, felt it was unfortunate charges 1-11 were ordered dismissed back in November when it was discovered the state had violated the speedy trial statute.
“He wanted his day in court, certain that he would have been found not guilty of at least four of the charges against him.”
Fisher said Rankin had made an Alford plea to the two counts of sexual exploitation of a child in order to spare the victims from having to testify to a jury, and that he had been “shocked and awed” at the allegations made against him at the preliminary hearing.
Fisher also attempted to diminish the severity of the crimes Rankin had pleaded guilty to, stating that in his experience, evidence was “nowhere near as egregious as he typically expects to see in a sexual exploitation of a child case.”
He argued that the two pieces of photographic evidence found on both of his cellular phones were only accessible by an expert with special equipment, and forensic analysis had found they had never been disseminated. Even Rankin did not know they were on his phone, Fisher said.
He asked the court to consider that rather than sitting idle in jail, Rankin had completed a personal betterment through correspondence course from Amazing Facts Bible School, and had been counseling and mentoring other inmates at the Barton County Jail.

Victims’ statements heard
Matthews requested the victims be allowed to give their statements. Denise Rankin, ex-wife of the perpetrator, took the podium first. She gave a moving and vividly detailed account of what the victims had been subjected to, including physical and emotional abuse from the time they were toddlers, up until 2016 when they sought help from authorities, and beyond until Rankin was taken into custody at the Barton County Jail. She provided graphic detail of the sexual abuse the victims described to her, and what she had experienced herself over the 20-plus year marriage, as well as a pattern of manipulation and conditioning that the entire family was subjected to until finally she found the strength to leave.
The victims each took their turn making their prepared statements to the judge.
“I don’t have to feel afraid in my own home,” the oldest stated. “My future has expanded. I used to want to kill myself, but now I feel there is a future worth seeing.”
“Since this began, I’ve had depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide,” the youngest victim stated. “Today, I keep my scarred wrists covered, and consider them my battle scars.”
Denise Rankin again took the podium, asking the judge to give the perpetrator the maximum sentence he could in order to protect her and her children and others in the future.

Further objections from defense
Matthews asked the court to consider what toll the uncharged counts and the current misconduct had taken on the victims, referring to an opinion offered at a previous hearing. He addressed Fisher’s attempt to minimize the evidence of the two counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
“Hearing what we’ve heard today, the misconduct has had a detrimental effect not on random individuals, but on family members,” he said. “We talk in terms of photographs, videos, and electronic information. What the defendant had on his phone were trophies.”
Fisher objected, and requested to approach the bench. After a brief exchange, Smith called a recess so he could meet with Fisher and Matthews in the privacy of his chambers. The recess was extended when it came to the attention of the court that people involved in the case were stuck in an elevator, and maintenance was called to correct the problem, which was resolved moments later.
Matthews was allowed to finish his statement, and added that the case was not one of an isolated incident, but of photos that indicated a course of conduct. He asked that Smith impose the standard sentence on both counts, to be served consecutively, and all applicable fines and fees imposed.
Fisher asserted, as he had indicated at the beginning of the hearing, the court would hear many negative things about his client. They had been prepared to go to trial, he said, adding Rankin hadn’t had knowledge of, access to or control of the photographic evidence found on his phone. He restated his original request for a departure from the longer sentencing guidelines. Jeffrey Rankin was offered an opportunity to speak, but chose not to.

Sentence delivered
“I’ve been a judge long enough to go back before the sentencing guidelines,” Judge Smith said. “Back then, the court had a tremendous amount of discretion. Some of that was understandably removed, but in the really important cases like this, the court does have discretion.”
While he conceded that enough time had passed between Rankin’s 1980s juvenile adjudications and the present case, he was concerned with other factors. He was also in agreement with Fisher that it was unfortunate that several of the charges against the defendant had to be dropped, noting that the speedy trial rule is harsh, but there are no exceptions.
“But, I do recall the obsequious manner in which you brought it to my attention that the speedy trial deadline had already ran,” he said. “While extensions can be made within the window, we could not enter an order to extend after that time ran out.”
Smith said of the four areas he considers when sentencing, in the area of retribution, he gives greater weight to cases of child sexual offenses, murder and arson, not in that order. He ordered the maximum sentence possible, a combined 162 months, with lifetime post-release monitoring.
As a condition of post release, Rankin will be responsible for court costs plus any liability the state may incur in providing treatment for the victims. The length of the sentence put him in the category of indigent, and so he will not be responsible for any remaining court-appointed attorney fees. He will be responsible for the $200 DNA testing fee and a workable payment plan will be arranged for him to meet restitution.
Judge Smith informed Rankin that should he appeal within the next 14 days, the court will appoint an attorney to him, and provide transcripts free of charge. Rankin was then remanded to the custody of the Barton County Sheriff and the Department of Corrections.
Surrounded by friends including members of Bikers Against Child Abuse, Denise Rankin and the two victims wiped tears, hugged, and expressed gratitude to those who were there to support them through the past two years.

(This article has been updated from the original on April 25, 2018.  The original content included only the first paragraph.)