Rowe Sentenced to Probation After 2024 Domestic Assault Case

A Marshfield man who is shown on video violently assaulting his wife in front of their toddler in November 2024 was sentenced Wednesday, Dec. 3, in Webster County Circuit Court.

 

Eric “Jordan” Rowe, originally charged with second-degree domestic assault (felony D) and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child (felony D), pleaded guilty earlier this year to third-degree domestic assault (felony E) and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child (misdemeanor A).

 

The charges stem from an incident on Nov. 3, 2024, at the couple’s home on Julian Street, where home-surveillance footage captured Rowe approaching and grabbing his wife and slamming her to the ground, then striking her while the couple’s toddler was only a few inches away.

 

According to the probable cause statement filed by Marshfield police, officers arrived around 10:30 a.m. and learned Rowe had fled before they got there. The victim told officers her husband had choked her, slammed her against a wall, and thrown her to the floor. Surveillance video reviewed by officers showed Rowe advance toward the victim, shove her into the wall, and throw her to the ground. The officer wrote that Rowe “showed no regard for the safety of the child,” who was repeatedly brushed aside and nearly fallen on during the assault.

 

In the video during the assault, the victim could be heard saying, “You’re hurting the baby,” as Rowe ripped off her glasses and threw them across the room. As he continues to strangle her with the full force of his body weight, he can be heard telling the victim to “Call the police,” and she responded “Call the police?” to which he replied that she should call them so they could get a divorce. The video ends shortly after.

After the assualt, Rowe reportedly deleted the surveillance footage from the home security system before arming himself with a gun and fleeing the scene. He refused to meet with officers after the assault and twice declined to turn himself in when contacted by phone. A warrant was issued on Nov. 8, 2024, and he was later taken into custody.

When investigators discovered Rowe had used his computer expertise to delete the surveillance footage from the home security system, prosecutors filed additional felony charges for tampering with physical evidence and tampering with a victim. His father, Leslie Rowe, was also charged after contacting the victim and attempting to influence her cooperation with law enforcement.

Rowe’s guilty plea for the reduced charges was entered Aug. 5, 2025, according to court records.

The victim’s impact statement was submitted during the sentencing hearing Wednesday, where the court also viewed the video from the incident last November, and granted Rowe the opportunity for allocution before issuing and Rowe was given the chance to speak before the judge issued the sentence.

The victim delivered a powerful detailed statement to those in attendance, noting the drastic describing the significant impact this has had on her and her children’s lives. She asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence to give her and her children time to heal and re-build rebuild after escaping the abuse. Rowe also spoke ahead of sentencing, pleading for probation so he could focus on improving himself, his career and provide providing for his children.

In the victim's impact statement, she read, "The child in this case—our youngest—has special needs and is nonverbal. His disregard for her safety mirrored his treatment of me. He locked me out of a room while she cried as an infant. He threw a cup of coffee on me while I held her as a newborn. He flipped me backward in a recliner with her in my lap. He forced us to walk home in 40-degree weather for no reason, claiming it ‘wasn’t that far.’ When I tried to address these incidents, he dismissed them with comments like, ‘Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.’"

Prosecutor Ben Berkstresser echoed "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes," when arguing that the defendant be sentenced to time in to serve time with the Department of Corrections.

After reflecting on the statements by both the victim and the defendant, as well as the prosecuting and defense attorney prosecutors and defense counsel, Judge Chuck Replogle ordered a three-year Missouri Department of Corrections sentence for the felony domestic assault charge and a concurrent 12-month jail sentence for the misdemeanor child-endangerment charge. Both sentences were suspended, and Rowe was placed on five years of supervised probation. Replogle said numerous circumstances multiple factors were taken into consideration before delivering the sentence.

Conditions of probation include no contact with the victim except for child-custody matters and no presence within 1,000 feet of her home or workplace except for visitation exchanges. Rowe must also participate in the Domestic Violence Offender Supervision Program and pay $3,530 in restitution, plus administrative fees, at a minimum rate of $100 per month beginning Jan. 1, 2026.

The court ruled that Rowe is not eligible for Earned earned compliance credits, which are used to shorten probation periods, due to the severity of the circumstances.

Rowe’s prior domestic violence arrest in 2017 was noted in during the hearing, though he was never convicted of this in that case. It was also noted that the Division of Family Services was notified following the 2024 incident.