St. Charles man who sexually abused children sentenced to 40 years in prison

ST. CHARLES, Missouri – A 25-year-old St. Charles man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to multiple counts of sexual abuse of children.

Ronald C. Lawrence was sentenced Friday, more than two months after he admitted to sexually abusing two victims and recording the abuse. He also admitted to sharing the recordings online and downloading other child sexual abuse material.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, the victims’ mother told the court that Lawrence destroyed their lives and abused the trust they once placed in him.

According to the press release, Lawrence also met a third juvenile victim online and asked that person to send him explicit videos. He also asked the victim and another person to take exploitative images of their younger siblings and send them to him.

In addition to the 40-year prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk ordered him to pay $3,000 to one of the victims of the video he downloaded from the Internet.

Lawrence also faces 11 charges in St. Charles County, including multiple counts of rape of a minor and sodomy. A hearing is scheduled for July 24, according to online court documents.

When he was first charged in St. Charles County, St. Charles police expressed concern that there may be additional, unidentified victims of Lawrence and asked anyone with information to call the non-emergency number 636-949-3300.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Missouri hotline at 1-800-392-3738, the Illinois hotline at 800-25-ABUSE (800-252-2873), or the national hotline at 1-800-656-4673.