Waites Pleads Guilty

A 46-year-old Piedmont man pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor in federal court on Tuesday, Nov. 7, in Cape Girardeau.

According to federal prosecutors, Tony R. Waites admitted to making recordings of his sex acts with minors and pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Waites is scheduled to be sentenced on February 6, 2024. He faces a minimum of 15 years to a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Federal prosecutors said an 11-year-old boy reported that Waites had sexually abused him on several occasions in March of 2022 and the victim believed that Waites had filmed the abuse.