State v. Christopher

Defendant was charged by indictment in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County with the crime of rape by carnally and unlawfully knowing a female child under the age of sixteen years. The trial court overruled a plea in abatement, and the defendant pleading not guilty, a trial was had. The defendant was found guilty and his punishment was assessed by the jury at two years' imprisonment in the penitentiary, the lowest penalty allowed by law for the offense.

The case made by the State unfolded a repulsive tale. Defendant's accuser was May Whitwell, who was born April 18, 1914, in one of the lower…