COLUMBUS, Miss.–Robert Triplett’s stepdaughter went missing in 2009 in Lowndes County, and when police were trying to find out where she was, they searched through Triplett’s hard drive. They found child pornography and he ended up with a ten-year sentence. Now for the second time a federal judge has refused to throw out the conviction.
Triplett, whose proper name is Robert Warren Trplett, Jr., is a convicted sex offender, who was out on probation when his 21-year-old stepdaughter, Kaila Morris, disappeared. He served time in 1997 for forcible rape in Louisiana. That conviction was reduced and he was let out after a retrial where the victim refused to testify.
He was charged with sexual battery in 2003 in Jackson County. That charge was later reduced.
He asked the federal judge to throw out the child pornography conviction because he said his lawyers did not do a good enough job on his defense. He also claimed that Lowndes County deputies did an illegal search when the found sexual images of children on his computer.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the conviction was still valid last month and Triplett tried again. It was Monday when the judge again said no.
For now, Triplett is still in federal prison.
