Attorney General's News Release

November 21, 2008

Jackson County jury commits Kansas City man as sexually violent predator

Kansas City, Mo. - A jury in Jackson County on Thursday (Nov. 20) found Jason Sapp to be a sexually violent predator (SVP) and committed him to the state treatment center in Farmington. Circuit Judge Kathleen A. Forsyth signed the judgment and commitment order.

The Attorney General's Office sought to have Sapp (DOB - 10/14/76) committed as an SVP due to his 1996 conviction in Jackson County on two counts of statutory sodomy involving a seven-year old boy, for which he received 10 years in prison. A petition for civil commitment was filed July 28, 2006.

Those committed by the court as sexually violent predators have the right to have their cases reviewed to determine if their mental abnormality has so changed that they are not likely to commit acts of sexual violence if released.

Currently, there are 114 sexually violent predators held in civil commitment in Missouri. Sexually violent predator commitments are handled by the Public Safety Division in the Attorney General's Office. Missouri's sexually violent predator law took effect in January 1999.