Man pleads guilty to felonious restraint

A Higginsville man pleaded guilty to felonious restraint in connection with the Jan. 14 abduction of a State Fair Community College student from the campus.

Clifford J. Skidmore, 21, had been charged with kidnapping, but pleaded guilty to felonious restraint in the court of Judge Robert L. Koffman on Monday.

His case was continued for sentencing.

He was charged with forcing his girlfriend, Kelly Shepherd, to leave the campus with him and to drive him to Higginsville. He threatened to hurt himself or her friend if she refused.

Higginsville police found Shepherd at Skidmore’s home and arrested him.

Skidmore was also found to be a persistent offender because he had two prior felony convictions.  Shepherd was 19 at the time of the abduction; she no longer attends SFCC.