UPDATE: Former Missouri speaker charged with assault

JEFFERSON CITY — Former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton was charged Monday with second-degree assault on a woman.

The 42-year-old Republican was named in a complaint filed Monday in Scott County Circuit Court in southeastern Missouri. According to the complaint, on Nov. 15 Jetton "caused serious physical injury" by hitting the woman on the head and choking her, which resulted in unconsciousness and the loss of function for part of her body. The woman is not identified in court documents.

Second-degree assault is a felony that carries a prison sentence of up to seven years.

Jetton, who is from the southeast Missouri town of Marble Hill, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. A message sent to his e-mail address was returned as undeliverable.

Jetton was first elected to the Missouri House in 2000 and was chosen as speaker in 2005. He left the House after the 2008 session because of term limits and now works as a political consultant.

Online court records show that bond was set at $2,500 for Jetton and that he is required to avoid the woman. It was unclear Monday if Jetton had been arrested. Police in Sikeston referred calls for comment to the city attorney, who was out of the office and unavailable for comment.

The Scott County Sheriff's Office said it had not taken Jetton into custody.

A woman who answered the telephone at the Scott County prosecutor's office said no one was available for comment.