Missouri Man Pleads Guilty to Holding Sex Slave

A Kirkwood man has pleaded guilty to being part of a group that kept a mentally disabled woman as a sex slave in rural southwestern Missouri. Bradley Cook, 33, entered his plea this morning in U.S. District Court in Kansas City to one count of sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion. In exchange, federal prosecutors dropped six other charges including tampering with a victim, use of an interstate facility in commission of murder for hire and attempted witness retaliation — each of which carried potential 10- to 30-year sentences. The binding plea agreement recommends a 20-year prison sentence without parole for Cook.