Man Sentenced to 396 Years

ST. JOSEPH (AP) - A St. Joseph man who admitted sexually molesting three young girls is sentenced to a total of 396 years in prison. Forty-one-year-old Donald Axtell entered the plea last month to four felony counts of rape and sodomy. The charges involved girls as young as three years old. Buchanan County Circuit Judge Daniel Kellogg sentenced Axtell yesterday to two consecutive 99-year terms, plus 198 years. Prosecutors alleged that on several occasions between 1988 and 2000, Axtell raped and molested at least two juveniles who were younger than 14 at the time. In extremely emotional and graphic testimony, three young women detailed how Axtell repeatedly performed sexual acts on them when they were three to five years old. A 23-year-old woman told the court that she was four years old when Axtell raped her in a bathroom by telling her they were playing a "secret game."