An Excelsior Springs man has sentenced to 14 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for three felony charges after reaching an agreement with the Ray County Prosecutor’s Office, six years after the initial report was made to law enforcement.Devin A. Howerton, 22, was originally charged on January 29, 2020, with multiple counts of firstdegree sodomy involving a victim under the age of 12. However, on Jan. 30, 2025, the charges were amended. Howerton recently appeared before Eighth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Kevin L. Walden, where he entered an Alford plea to first-degree sexual abuse, second-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual misconduct involving a child under the age of 15.The Alford plea is a guilty plea in which the defendant maintains their innocence while recognizing that the prosecution likely had sufficient evidence to secure a guilty verdict if brought to trial.Walden sentenced Howerton to five years for f...