Mersman sentenced to ten years

A Willow Springs man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for injuring children. Kevin Mersman, 46, of Willow Springs, was sentenced to four 10-year prison terms by the Missouri Department of Corrections for four counts of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree. Mersman accepted a plea deal for the lesser charges and was sentenced June 14 by Judge Robert David Ray at the Howell County Courthouse.

As previously reported by Howell County News, Mersman was arrested in 2022 after suspicions grew after a six-month-old baby boy had to be airlifted for being bitten by a dog in the genital area. While Mersman was at Ozarks Healthcare with the infant, her two other children were in the care of a babysitter, who noticed bruising on her six-year-old adopted daughter and contacted law enforcement. Mersman was initially charged with 12 counts of child abuse and assault for beating the girl.

The girl told a Child Advocacy Center interviewer that Mersman was lifting her off the ground by her neck and that the bruising on her head was from “hits” on the head, telling the interviewer that her father was “giving her kicking all the time.” When questioned by police, Mersman told investigators the girl was autistic and difficult to deal with, saying he had no training on how to care for an autistic child.

Mersman's wife was also initially accused of child abuse, but those accusations no longer appear on public records.