CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - A man was sentenced to more than nine years in prison for a Cape Girardeau church arson.

According to a news release from the Department of Justice, Christopher Scott Pritchard, 49, was sentenced on Tuesday, May 20 by U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp for burning down a church in 2021.

He was also ordered to pay $6,968,223.36 in restitution for damages to the church.

Pritchard pleaded guilty in December 2024 to one count of arson and one count of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act.

He admitted to setting fire to the building owned and used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cape Girardeau on the evening of April 28, 2021.

According to the news release, Pritchard was spotted watching the fire and was arrested about 1.5 miles a

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