Swillum Pleads, Sentencing Hearing Set

A formal sentencing hearing scheduled for Sept. 22, for 25-year-old Ryan Swillum of Jefferson City. He faces a mandatory life sentence, after he pleaded guilty to first-degree statutory sodomy of a child under 12 on Friday. The only question is to whether Swillum will be eligible for parole.

According to Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson, he entered a guilty plea as part of a hearing in Cole County Circuit Court, where he admitted to being a predatory sexual offender.

Prosecutors said the abuse in this case, took place between August 2018 and May 2020 in Jefferson City.

Swillum was charged in February 2023 after the victim told their parents, who immediately contacted law enforcement.