Attorney General Bailey Secures Life with Parole Sentence for Third Time Convicted Child Sex Offender

On August 3, 2024, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that his office 
obtained felony convictions for Terrence Higgins of Ralls County, for thirteen counts of child sexual 
abuse related charges. He faces a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole in the Missouri 
Department of Corrections. 
"As Attorney General, I will always work to put away bad actors who actively target Missouri's most 
vulnerable," said Attorney General Bailey. "My office will continue to use every tool at our disposal to 
obtain justice for victims. I'm proud of the work we did in partnership with the Ralls County Prosecuting 
Attorney in this case to do just that." 
Terrence Higgins of Ralls County was previously convicted of Unlawful Sexual Contact with a Minor and 
Rape in the fourth degree -- with a victim under 16 years old - out of the State of Delaware in 1999 and 
2004 respectively. 
Higgins was arrested in September 2022 for one count of Statutory Sodomy in the First Degree, one 
count of Statutory Rape in the Second Degree, four counts of Statutory Sodomy in the Second Degree, 
five counts of Incest, one count of Child Molestation in the fourth degree and one count of Abuse of a 
Child, all related to the abuse of two minor children from the Ralls County area. 
On August 28, 2024, the Honorable Judge Rachel Bringer-Shepherd sentenced Higgins to the maximum 
number of years per count with most counts running concurrently, after Higgins pled guilty to all 
thirteen counts of child abuse related charges. Higgins was also deemed to be a predatory sexual 
offender with a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole. Higgins will become eligible for 
parole in 29 years when he is 75 years old. If Higgins is released from the Department of Corrections, he 
will be subject to lifetime supervision by the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole. 
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