Former Maries County high school employee gets probation in child endangerment case
Madison Stuerman
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A former Maries County high school employee charged with child sex crimes in 2023 was sentenced to probation.
Rikki Laughlin, 26, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child creating susbstanial risk with no sexual contact in a Grundy County courtroom on Thursday.
Court records show Maries County Prosecutor Richard Skouby filed an amended complaint at the start of a hearing on Thursday for endangering the welfare of a child. Online records show Laughlin waived her formal arraignment to the amended charge and pleaded guilty.
Laughlin was senteced to five years of supervised probation and special conditions that are redacted. If Laughlin violates her probation she will be senteced to five years in the Department of Corrections.
Court documents state she endangered the child between Sept. 8 and Oct. 19, 2023 in Maries County by acting in a manner that “created substanial risk to the life, body and health of Confidential Victim to engage in acts that are illegal in the State of Missouri and injurious to a minors health and well-being.”
The case was moved to Grundy County from Maries County in March 2024 but a hearing was not set until April 2025.
She was originally charged in 2023 with seven child sex crime realted felonies. Court documents said the student victim accused her of sending pronographic material over Snapchat and phyiscial contact at the school. Laughlin denied the allegations to law enforcement when interviewed.
ABC 17 News has reached out to the Maries County Prosecutor for a statement but is waiting to hear back.