A rural Newton man accused of having sex with a teenage minor this past summer has been sentenced to twenty years in prison. The criminal complaint filed against 50-year-old Tommy Gene Baxter says the crime occurred at his home southwest of Newton between July 29th and August 1st of this year. Baxter was also accused of sending obscene material to the victim via his cellphone.

Baxter accepted a plea agreement. His original Class B felony charges of two counts of 2nd Degree Sexual Abuse were negotiated down to two counts of Lascivious Acts with a Child, which is a Class C felony. District Court Judge Thomas Murphy imposed two consecutive ten-year prison terms, two $250 civil penalties, and two suspended $1,370 fines. 

As part of the plea agreement, the court dismissed a third count of 2nd Degree Sexual Abuse and an aggravated misdemeanor charge of Telephone Dissemination of Obscene Material to a Minor.