Two involved in 2007 home invasion plead guilty

COLUMBIA — The last two of five men charged in a 2007 home invasion during which a 16-year-old woman was raped pleaded guilty Monday in Boone County Circuit Court to charges related to their involvement.

Jamie C. Harris pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery and felony sexual assault. He was sentenced to 15 years for the robbery and seven years for the sexual assault.

James T. Harris pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary and was sentenced to 11 years in jail. Both were 15 at the time of the incident.

They were originally charged with felonious restraint, forcible rape, forcible sodomy, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery and armed criminal action.

According to a police report, the home invasion occurred on Sept. 18, 2007, when John Gunn and his wife, Anita, left their five children, ages 7 to 16, at home while they went out for the evening.

The report said:

• Five men, at least one of whom was armed, waited for the parents to leave before entering the house on Citadel Drive.
  
• Wearing bandannas over their faces, the men bound some of the children with duct tape.
  
• They then ransacked the house, stealing objects of value, including a video game console, jewelry, food, household furnishings and change.
  
• The oldest daughter, 16 at the time of the incident, was then raped and sodomized.

Three other men involved in the invasion have pleaded guilty to various charges.

Jarrod Alexander Lilly, 30, pleaded guilty to felony sexual assault and first-degree robbery on July 7. He was sentenced to seven years for the sexual assault and 20 years for the robbery.

Christopher Lee Jacobs, 18, pleaded guilty on June 23 to charges of second-degree robbery and first-degree burglary. He received sentences of 15 years for the robbery and seven years for the burglary, to be served concurrently.

Patrick J. Burgess, 16 at the time of the incident, also pleaded guilty on June 23 to felony sexual assault and first-degree robbery. He received sentences of seven years for the sexual assault and 18 years for the robbery, to be served concurrently.