A former Olney police officer was arrested on a district court warrant alleging two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact.
Corey J. Yocum was arrested by the Dallas Police Department on Friday and held on a $100,000 bond.
According to two indictments issued by a Young County grand jury in May, Yocum intentionally caused a child under the age of 17 to touch him and he allegedly touched the girl in sexual manners. At the time of the alleged offense, Oct. 24, 2008, Yocum was a police officer in Olney.
“We received the allegation and forwarded it to an impartial agency to investigate,” said Randall Davis, chief of the Olney Police Department. “That investigation led to him being indicted. It’s embarrassing that it happened to us. We have every intention of policing ourselves, as well as the community.”
Jim Reeves, the investigator for 90th Judicial District Attorney Brenda Gray, said when he learned Yocum was still at large and might be in the Dallas area, he asked for help in finding the man who police have been looking for since May.
“I saw the guy hadn’t been arrested, and he had been indicted in May,” Reeves said. “I picked up the phone and contacted a Texas Ranger, Sgt. Eric Casper. Casper put out the information to his contacts in Dallas. As a result, he was arrested by the Child Sex Exploitation Unit of the Dallas PD.”
Yocum was taken to the Dallas County Jail on Friday and was transported to Young County on Monday. He is currently being held in the Young County Jail.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Pastor Joshua Spires Charged with Molesting Girl
A former youth pastor is charged with lewd molestation of an underage girl.
Police say 28-year-old Joshua Spires molested the girl, who was a member of the church, while he was youth minister at First Baptist Church in Jay.
Spires faces 10 counts of lewd molestation.
Police say 28-year-old Joshua Spires molested the girl, who was a member of the church, while he was youth minister at First Baptist Church in Jay.
Spires faces 10 counts of lewd molestation.
David Fisher Arrested for Sexual Child Abuse
Mayes County deputies arrested the principal of Choteau Elementary on Tuesday.
According to Sheriff Frank Cantey, David Fisher is being held on three counts of sexual child abuse.
Sheriff Cantey says the suspected abuse occured during the 2003-2004 school year. A then-13-year-old girl made the accusations against Fisher.
Fisher had been a teacher, bus driver and coach at Mazie Elementary at the time. This year he took the principal position at Chouteau Elementary.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Gary Anthony Debrielle Charged with Child Solicitation
A Fairfax County man who worked as a high school wrestling coach was being held without bond Tuesday after he was arrested on charges of felony child solicitation in an online sex sting carried out by the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office.
Gary Anthony Debrielle, 26, of Chantilly was picked up at his home over the weekend by Fairfax County police on a Spotsylvania warrant that resulted from a series of online conversations last month, said 1st Sgt. Liz Scott, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. She said Spotsylvania sheriff's deputy Megan Warren, posing as a 14-year-old girl, had Internet chats with Debrielle between July 10 and 14 that "turned sexual in nature."
Police traced Debrielle, who used a screen name, to a residence in Chantilly and discovered that he was employed part time by Fairfax County Public Schools, Scott said. FCPS officials said he was an assistant wrestling coach at Woodson High School.
Debrielle was charged with online solicitation of a child and attempted indecent liberties with a child. He was being held under no bond at Rappahannock Regional Jail, Scott said.
Warren was assisted in the investigation by Detective Clay Blankenship, she said.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Katherine Nadal Sentenced to 99 years for Mutilating her Son
A Houston-area mother convicted of mutilating her infant by cutting off his genitals two years ago was sentenced Monday to 99 years in prison.
But minutes after the jury's sentence was read, Katherine Nadal, 28, yelled out that she did not hurt her son, prompting the boy's father to storm out of the courtroom.
Jurors deliberated for two hours Monday night before returning the sentence, which also included a $10,000 fine. The same jury had convicted her last week of first-degree felony injury to a child.
The jurors chose among possible sentences ranging from probation to life in prison. Nadal, who shook her head as the jury foreman read the sentence, will have to serve at least 30 years before she is eligible for parole.
Prosecutors asked for life in prison. Nadal's attorneys did not request a specific sentence, instead asking the jury to not punish her out of hate or revenge.
Nadal had claimed the family dog, a 6- to 7-pound dachshund named "Shorty" was responsible for mutilating her then-5-week-old son, Holden Gothia, as he slept in his parent's bedroom in March 2007 at their suburban Houston apartment.
But prosecutors said she was high on drugs when she mutilated her son with an unknown sharp instrument. Authorities say Nadal, who had prior drug arrests, tested positive for cocaine, methadone and Xanax after the attack.
Holden survived, but the severed body parts were never found.
After the sentence was announced, Holden's paternal aunt, Patches DeShazo, who has custody of the now 2-year-old boy, read a victim impact statement in the courtroom.
"I am thankful by time you are eligible for parole you will be beyond childbearing years. It makes me crazy to this very day to hear you say I did not hurt him," DeShazo said as she read her statement.
That prompted Nadal to yell back from the table where she sat with her defense attorneys: "I failed him. I did not hurt him."
The boy's father, Camden Gothia, then stood up and yelled to Nadal, "You abused him when he was in the womb," a reference to Nadal having taken drugs when she was pregnant with Holden. Gothia then left the courtroom.
DeShazo and her husband were given custody after his parents relinquished their rights. His father sees him regularly.
After the hearing, prosecutor Tammy Thomas told reporters that Nadal will never admit what she did.
"I don't know if this is justice to merit the damage," a teary-eyed Thomas said. "This is as close as we can get."
Allen Isbell, one of Nadal's attorneys, said he was disappointed that the sentence was "so long."
During closing arguments in the punishment phase of the trial, Thomas told jurors that Nadal had sentenced her child to a life of pain and suffering. "She took his identity as a human being and either flushed it or threw it in a trash can," Thomas added.
Doctors testified that he faces years of surgeries and counseling.
Nadal's attorneys told jurors that nothing they did would help Holden.
"This jury must punish Katie Nadal. That's your job. But what is appropriate? I hope you don't do it out of hate or revenge," defense attorney Skip Cornelius said.
But minutes after the jury's sentence was read, Katherine Nadal, 28, yelled out that she did not hurt her son, prompting the boy's father to storm out of the courtroom.
Jurors deliberated for two hours Monday night before returning the sentence, which also included a $10,000 fine. The same jury had convicted her last week of first-degree felony injury to a child.
The jurors chose among possible sentences ranging from probation to life in prison. Nadal, who shook her head as the jury foreman read the sentence, will have to serve at least 30 years before she is eligible for parole.
Prosecutors asked for life in prison. Nadal's attorneys did not request a specific sentence, instead asking the jury to not punish her out of hate or revenge.
Nadal had claimed the family dog, a 6- to 7-pound dachshund named "Shorty" was responsible for mutilating her then-5-week-old son, Holden Gothia, as he slept in his parent's bedroom in March 2007 at their suburban Houston apartment.
But prosecutors said she was high on drugs when she mutilated her son with an unknown sharp instrument. Authorities say Nadal, who had prior drug arrests, tested positive for cocaine, methadone and Xanax after the attack.
Holden survived, but the severed body parts were never found.
After the sentence was announced, Holden's paternal aunt, Patches DeShazo, who has custody of the now 2-year-old boy, read a victim impact statement in the courtroom.
"I am thankful by time you are eligible for parole you will be beyond childbearing years. It makes me crazy to this very day to hear you say I did not hurt him," DeShazo said as she read her statement.
That prompted Nadal to yell back from the table where she sat with her defense attorneys: "I failed him. I did not hurt him."
The boy's father, Camden Gothia, then stood up and yelled to Nadal, "You abused him when he was in the womb," a reference to Nadal having taken drugs when she was pregnant with Holden. Gothia then left the courtroom.
DeShazo and her husband were given custody after his parents relinquished their rights. His father sees him regularly.
After the hearing, prosecutor Tammy Thomas told reporters that Nadal will never admit what she did.
"I don't know if this is justice to merit the damage," a teary-eyed Thomas said. "This is as close as we can get."
Allen Isbell, one of Nadal's attorneys, said he was disappointed that the sentence was "so long."
During closing arguments in the punishment phase of the trial, Thomas told jurors that Nadal had sentenced her child to a life of pain and suffering. "She took his identity as a human being and either flushed it or threw it in a trash can," Thomas added.
Doctors testified that he faces years of surgeries and counseling.
Nadal's attorneys told jurors that nothing they did would help Holden.
"This jury must punish Katie Nadal. That's your job. But what is appropriate? I hope you don't do it out of hate or revenge," defense attorney Skip Cornelius said.
Christopher Jason Elrod Charged with Killing His Daughter
A man charged with homicide by child abuse has been denied bond.
Christopher Jason Elrod, 30, had his first appearance in Lexington County Bond Court, Saturday afternoon. According to Lexington County Detention Center officials, he was denied bond and future court dates are pending. He is still being detained at the Lexington County Detention Center.
Elrod was arrested Friday by Lexington County Sheriff's Deputies who say he killed his daughter by suffocation. He's been charged with homicide by child abuse.
The arrest came at the end of a joint investigation by the Lexington County Sheriff's Department, the Lexington County Coroner's office, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
The warrant against him states that on December 7, 2008, Elrod held his daughter, Calen Elrod, tightly against his body. Deputies say his actions obstructed the girl's ability to breath, and the coroner's office determined she died from suffocation.
Deputies say on Friday, they conducted an interview with Elrod that allowed them to get information that helped establish probable cause in the case, allowing them to formally charge Elrod.
Gordon Houston Admitted to Raping Daughter Will be Released from Jail
A 69-year-old man who admitted raping his daughter when she was a young girl will be released from jail this week after spending six months behind bars for violating his probation.
Gordon N. Houston pleaded guilty in June, 2008 to the aggravated sexual assault of his daughter, Rebecca, back in the late 1980s, and was placed on deferred adjudication probation for 10 years.
The policy of the Seguin Gazette Enterprise is to not divulge the names of victims of sexual assault.
In this case, Rebecca Houston, now in her 20s, said she wanted her name used in order to bring attention to sexual assaults that are not uncommon in this community and to stand up for other victims, let them know they’re not alone and that they’ll have support if they speak out.
It took Rebecca Houston years to make an outcry herself, she said, because of the effect of years of sexual abuse as a child.
“All of my earliest memories are of this (abuse). My brother and my sister-in-law took me to the sheriff’s office to make my statement,” Houston said. “I don’t think I would have been able to do it on my own without the support of people who love me.”
The case was indicted in 2006 on multiple counts, and all but one were dismissed in the plea agreement reached in June, 2008, between the office of former District Attorney Vicki Pattillo and defense attorneys Billy McNabb and Scot Courtney of San Marcos, in which Houston would carry no conviction for sexual assault — if he successfully completed the terms of his probation.
Probation conditions for a sex offender are extensive — 274th Judicial District Judge Gary Steel’s judgement filed July 20 that returns Houston to community supervision this week has been increased to 50 separate conditions, including committing no other offenses, having no association with others who commit offenses, no unsupervised contact with children, a year of electronic monitoring to begin immediately upon his release from jail.
He is also ordered to have no contact with and remain at least 500 yards from his daughter, to paying for her therapy or counseling and participating in sex offender treatment to include mandatory regular lie detector tests. He must also surrender his passport and cannot apply for another.
There was one further condition of Houston’s continued probation: that he spend six months in county jail — the maximum a state district judge can order under the law in a probation case. That six months is up on Tuesday.
In triple-starred, underlined bold-face italics near the end of the three-page judgment, Steel made one final note to Houston suggestive of what the judge’s attitude would be, should Houston be hauled before his bench again for violating the terms of probation.
“***Zero Tolerance — follow all sanctions and directives as indicated .... during the duration of your sex offender treatment program,” Steel wrote.
Pattillo, who now has a private law practice in Seguin, does not discuss criminal cases in the newspaper. Courtney, reached for this story, doesn’t discuss the negotiations or their outcome except to say that he believed at the time that both sides and the victim had agreed to probation for Houston, who is elderly and who had never been in trouble with the law before this offense.
Rebecca Houston says she didn’t quite understand what deferred adjudication probation would mean.
“I didn’t really expect that he would just get probation,” she said. “They explained to me basically it was probation with the option, if he messed up, that he goes to prison for a long time. Now, they’re saying he could be let go again, and that wasn’t the deal as I understood it.”
The way Gordon Houston “messed up” on probation was by failing to comply with conditions of his deferred adjudication by failing a polygraph test, failing to comply with treatment assignments as directed by his therapist, failing to make progress in his treatment and failing to disclose a sexual relationship with a mentally challenged 20-year-old woman to his probation officer or therapist, as required. He also admitted keeping a photographic negative of his victim, and admitted becoming aroused by it -- an admission his now-adult daughter testified “disgusted” her.
Houston’s therapist and probation officer recommended Houston be locked up for a period of time and then placed back on deferred adjudication probation and instructed to cooperate with his treatment, and while Steel had the option of adjudicating Houston’s case, entering a conviction and sending him away, court observers say it is uncommon for a judge to overrule the recommendation of the probation department.
In an adjudication hearing that began in May and was recessed into June so the judge and both sides could review more than 100 pages of case notes pertaining to Houston’s treatment, Courtney and McNabb went on the offensive in a confrontation with District Attorney Heather Hollub and her first assistant, Larry Bloomquist, who sought a long prison term.
The defense attorneys argued that Houston was complying with his conditions and his treatment — albeit maybe not as early or as quickly as he might have —and that it was Houston himself who offered up the admissions once he began cooperating with his treatment that resulted in the motion to adjudicate his case.
“What’s he supposed to think about ‘treatment’ in light of this motion?” McNabb asked the judge.
Hollub, who has made it clear she has concerns about Houston, said she accepted the outcome of the hearings.
“We respect Judge Steel’s ruling,” Hollub said.
Courtney said the same thing.
“The process works because the judge follows the law, and Judge Steel has absolutely followed the law,” Courtney said. “The time Mr. Houston has spent in county jail as a condition of his continuing on probation is the maximum amount of time the judge can set.”
Courtney noted the recommendation of the probation department.
“The judge relies on the probation department because they’re his eyes and ears,” Courtney said. “He did find there were violations, but the judge is there to look at the violations while on probation and not necessarily the original case and retry the allegations or the original charge. That’s not the purpose of this hearing. The judge is entrusted to look at the allegations in light of the evidence, and then decide of those allegations indicate the person should be sentenced to prison or for how long or that the conditions be amended in some way so that everyone’s interests are protected. That’s what Judge Steel did in this case, and I don’t think you can ask any more of a judge.”
Courtney said he understood, now, that Rebecca Houston is unhappy with the disposition of the original case.
“I don’t quarrel with that person, and I wouldn’t ever comment on how she should feel,” Courtney said. “But that being said, the process we’ve gone through is not a process to relitigate those original allegations. It’s just not.”
Probation for a convicted sex offender is not easy, Courtney noted.
“The conditions are onerous to say the very least, and that’s not to say that they’re unfair. You have to follow them,” Courtney explained. “I caution clients considering probation that it’s not a way to get a case over with. That’s just the beginning, and it will be a long road. If you’re not willing to do it, don’t bother (with probation). I think Mr. Houston has truly and will continue to redouble his efforts to comply with the court’s orders.”
Rebecca Houston isn’t so sure.
“If he’s going after a mentally slow girl, he’s still a predator and he needs to be put away, and obviously more counseling is not going to help and there will be more victims,” she said. “I really hate the fact that a man who has admitted to molesting children has been allowed out of jail. Even though he will have an ankle bracelet tracking him, that won’t stop him from being inappropriate with anyone he can get close to.”
She said she hoped others might come forward with information about her father.
“If more victims can find the courage to speak up, maybe he can be put away for good,” she said.
Gordon N. Houston pleaded guilty in June, 2008 to the aggravated sexual assault of his daughter, Rebecca, back in the late 1980s, and was placed on deferred adjudication probation for 10 years.
The policy of the Seguin Gazette Enterprise is to not divulge the names of victims of sexual assault.
In this case, Rebecca Houston, now in her 20s, said she wanted her name used in order to bring attention to sexual assaults that are not uncommon in this community and to stand up for other victims, let them know they’re not alone and that they’ll have support if they speak out.
It took Rebecca Houston years to make an outcry herself, she said, because of the effect of years of sexual abuse as a child.
“All of my earliest memories are of this (abuse). My brother and my sister-in-law took me to the sheriff’s office to make my statement,” Houston said. “I don’t think I would have been able to do it on my own without the support of people who love me.”
The case was indicted in 2006 on multiple counts, and all but one were dismissed in the plea agreement reached in June, 2008, between the office of former District Attorney Vicki Pattillo and defense attorneys Billy McNabb and Scot Courtney of San Marcos, in which Houston would carry no conviction for sexual assault — if he successfully completed the terms of his probation.
Probation conditions for a sex offender are extensive — 274th Judicial District Judge Gary Steel’s judgement filed July 20 that returns Houston to community supervision this week has been increased to 50 separate conditions, including committing no other offenses, having no association with others who commit offenses, no unsupervised contact with children, a year of electronic monitoring to begin immediately upon his release from jail.
He is also ordered to have no contact with and remain at least 500 yards from his daughter, to paying for her therapy or counseling and participating in sex offender treatment to include mandatory regular lie detector tests. He must also surrender his passport and cannot apply for another.
There was one further condition of Houston’s continued probation: that he spend six months in county jail — the maximum a state district judge can order under the law in a probation case. That six months is up on Tuesday.
In triple-starred, underlined bold-face italics near the end of the three-page judgment, Steel made one final note to Houston suggestive of what the judge’s attitude would be, should Houston be hauled before his bench again for violating the terms of probation.
“***Zero Tolerance — follow all sanctions and directives as indicated .... during the duration of your sex offender treatment program,” Steel wrote.
Pattillo, who now has a private law practice in Seguin, does not discuss criminal cases in the newspaper. Courtney, reached for this story, doesn’t discuss the negotiations or their outcome except to say that he believed at the time that both sides and the victim had agreed to probation for Houston, who is elderly and who had never been in trouble with the law before this offense.
Rebecca Houston says she didn’t quite understand what deferred adjudication probation would mean.
“I didn’t really expect that he would just get probation,” she said. “They explained to me basically it was probation with the option, if he messed up, that he goes to prison for a long time. Now, they’re saying he could be let go again, and that wasn’t the deal as I understood it.”
The way Gordon Houston “messed up” on probation was by failing to comply with conditions of his deferred adjudication by failing a polygraph test, failing to comply with treatment assignments as directed by his therapist, failing to make progress in his treatment and failing to disclose a sexual relationship with a mentally challenged 20-year-old woman to his probation officer or therapist, as required. He also admitted keeping a photographic negative of his victim, and admitted becoming aroused by it -- an admission his now-adult daughter testified “disgusted” her.
Houston’s therapist and probation officer recommended Houston be locked up for a period of time and then placed back on deferred adjudication probation and instructed to cooperate with his treatment, and while Steel had the option of adjudicating Houston’s case, entering a conviction and sending him away, court observers say it is uncommon for a judge to overrule the recommendation of the probation department.
In an adjudication hearing that began in May and was recessed into June so the judge and both sides could review more than 100 pages of case notes pertaining to Houston’s treatment, Courtney and McNabb went on the offensive in a confrontation with District Attorney Heather Hollub and her first assistant, Larry Bloomquist, who sought a long prison term.
The defense attorneys argued that Houston was complying with his conditions and his treatment — albeit maybe not as early or as quickly as he might have —and that it was Houston himself who offered up the admissions once he began cooperating with his treatment that resulted in the motion to adjudicate his case.
“What’s he supposed to think about ‘treatment’ in light of this motion?” McNabb asked the judge.
Hollub, who has made it clear she has concerns about Houston, said she accepted the outcome of the hearings.
“We respect Judge Steel’s ruling,” Hollub said.
Courtney said the same thing.
“The process works because the judge follows the law, and Judge Steel has absolutely followed the law,” Courtney said. “The time Mr. Houston has spent in county jail as a condition of his continuing on probation is the maximum amount of time the judge can set.”
Courtney noted the recommendation of the probation department.
“The judge relies on the probation department because they’re his eyes and ears,” Courtney said. “He did find there were violations, but the judge is there to look at the violations while on probation and not necessarily the original case and retry the allegations or the original charge. That’s not the purpose of this hearing. The judge is entrusted to look at the allegations in light of the evidence, and then decide of those allegations indicate the person should be sentenced to prison or for how long or that the conditions be amended in some way so that everyone’s interests are protected. That’s what Judge Steel did in this case, and I don’t think you can ask any more of a judge.”
Courtney said he understood, now, that Rebecca Houston is unhappy with the disposition of the original case.
“I don’t quarrel with that person, and I wouldn’t ever comment on how she should feel,” Courtney said. “But that being said, the process we’ve gone through is not a process to relitigate those original allegations. It’s just not.”
Probation for a convicted sex offender is not easy, Courtney noted.
“The conditions are onerous to say the very least, and that’s not to say that they’re unfair. You have to follow them,” Courtney explained. “I caution clients considering probation that it’s not a way to get a case over with. That’s just the beginning, and it will be a long road. If you’re not willing to do it, don’t bother (with probation). I think Mr. Houston has truly and will continue to redouble his efforts to comply with the court’s orders.”
Rebecca Houston isn’t so sure.
“If he’s going after a mentally slow girl, he’s still a predator and he needs to be put away, and obviously more counseling is not going to help and there will be more victims,” she said. “I really hate the fact that a man who has admitted to molesting children has been allowed out of jail. Even though he will have an ankle bracelet tracking him, that won’t stop him from being inappropriate with anyone he can get close to.”
She said she hoped others might come forward with information about her father.
“If more victims can find the courage to speak up, maybe he can be put away for good,” she said.
Gary Wade Brown Sentenced to a Year for Sexual Abuse of Boy Scout
A former Utah County Boy Scout leader narrowly avoided prison Monday and instead was sentenced to a year in jail for sexually abusing a 12-year-old troop member.
Gary Wade Brown, 42, cried in 4th District Judge Christine Johnson's courtroom as he apologized to the Scout, his family and the Boy Scouts of America for exploiting his position to victimize the young boy.
"I can't imagine the amount of pain and anger I have caused [the victim and his family]," Brown said. "No one else is to blame. I take full responsibility."
Brown pleaded guilty in June to four counts of sexual abuse of a child and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, all second-degree felonies, as part of a bargain to avoid serving time in prison, prosecutor Julia Thomas-Fishburn said.
The victim's father, who knew Brown from his Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ward, said he believes Brown can turn his life around and wants him to be given the chance to rehabilitate.
"I don't approach this situation with vengeance, but more with sorrow and pity," the victim's father said. "This is not the way I wish to see Wade."
Johnson said she was close to sending Brown to prison but decided to suspend the one- to 15-year prison sentence and give him one year in jail based on a psychologist's report that said he was a low risk for a repeat offense.
Johnson, however, placed Brown on an intensive 36-month probation, during which he must complete rehabilitative therapy and not have contact with minors, including his own children. The probation will begin when Brown, who was credited with eight months of time already served, gets out of jail in four months.
The sexual activity between Brown and his troop member occurred for 18 months in 2005 to 2006, according to police. They said the boy reported that Brown had fondled him at Scout camps and in the ex-Scout leader's car and home.
Gary Wade Brown, 42, cried in 4th District Judge Christine Johnson's courtroom as he apologized to the Scout, his family and the Boy Scouts of America for exploiting his position to victimize the young boy.
"I can't imagine the amount of pain and anger I have caused [the victim and his family]," Brown said. "No one else is to blame. I take full responsibility."
Brown pleaded guilty in June to four counts of sexual abuse of a child and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, all second-degree felonies, as part of a bargain to avoid serving time in prison, prosecutor Julia Thomas-Fishburn said.
The victim's father, who knew Brown from his Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ward, said he believes Brown can turn his life around and wants him to be given the chance to rehabilitate.
"I don't approach this situation with vengeance, but more with sorrow and pity," the victim's father said. "This is not the way I wish to see Wade."
Johnson said she was close to sending Brown to prison but decided to suspend the one- to 15-year prison sentence and give him one year in jail based on a psychologist's report that said he was a low risk for a repeat offense.
Johnson, however, placed Brown on an intensive 36-month probation, during which he must complete rehabilitative therapy and not have contact with minors, including his own children. The probation will begin when Brown, who was credited with eight months of time already served, gets out of jail in four months.
The sexual activity between Brown and his troop member occurred for 18 months in 2005 to 2006, according to police. They said the boy reported that Brown had fondled him at Scout camps and in the ex-Scout leader's car and home.
G.L. Sizemore Charged with Rape of Child
A man accused of multiple sex crimes against a family member goes on trial this week.
G.L. Sizemore, 49, of Kings Mountain, has been charged with two counts of indecent liberties of a child, first-degree rape of a child, first-degree sex offense of a child, and failure to appear on those charges. His last known address is Farris Road.
Sizemore is accused of committing sex crimes while he lived in the home where the victim also lived, according to court testimony. Prosecutors said the sexual abuse lasted more than five years.
Several potential jurors were candid Monday when asked by prosecutors and the defense if they knew of or experi-enced any form of sexual abuse. More than 10 people said that they had either experienced abuse or knew of a family member who had.
Many were dismissed. It took several hours for the eight-man, four-female jury to be chosen.
Opening statements
Prosecutor Elizabeth Lari began her opening statement by saying the case, “has been a family secret for a long time.”
Lari told jurors Sizemore began touching the accuser when she was a child and went on to say the touching esca-lated to fondling and eventually intercourse. The alleged abuse began at age 5 and ended at age 12, according to Lari.
“It happened a number of times throughout the years,” Lari said.
Lifelong memory
Tears rolled down the accuser’s face as Lari told jurors she will testify on Tuesday.
“I hope she will give you the full picture,” Lari said. “This is a lifelong memory that she has repressed and will now recall in a room full of strangers.”
According to court testimony, the victim came forward to authorities in July 2003 to give a full, detailed account of what happened those years of her childhood.
Two sides of a coin
Sizemore’s attorney, Mike Griffin, said there was a period of time when everything went well between the parties.
But things quickly changed between 2001 and 2003, when the accuser came forward.
“There are two sides to every coin and two sides to every story,” Griffin said.
Melissa Huckaby Indicted for Kidnapping, Raping & Killing 8-year-old
A grand jury has indicted a Sunday school teacher on charges she kidnapped, raped and killed an 8-year-old girl and drugged two other people.
Melissa Huckaby broke down in tears Monday as Superior Court Judge Linda Lofthus read the indictment against her. The reading came after prosecutors convened a grand jury last month to determine whether Huckaby would stand trial.
Lofthus said the grand jury transcript would remain sealed. No trial date has been set.
Huckaby, 28, is accused of killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, a playmate of Huckaby's young daughter. Sandra went missing in March in Tracy, her hometown in Northern California. A massive search for her ended 10 days later when her body was found stuffed in a black suitcase pulled from an irrigation pond near the mobile home park where she lived.
Defense attorney Sam Behar asked Lofthus to delay setting a trial date, saying he has not read the indictment or lengthy transcript because he's in the middle of another trial.
But Deputy District Attorney Thomas Testa said he delivered a copy of the indictment to Behar's office earlier this month. "He's had a lot of time to read this indictment," Testa told Lofthus.
The judge then proceeded to read the indictment charges to a weeping Huckaby, who appeared in court with two fresh scratches above her right eyebrow. Neither Behar nor Testa would comment on the nature of Huckaby's injuries after Monday's hearing. A gag order barring attorneys, investigators and potential witnesses from commenting on the case remains in effect.
Huckaby in June pleaded not guilty to killing Sandra as well as to charges that she previously had drugged a 7-year-old girl and a 37-year-old man, whom police believe she had been dating. The girl and Huckaby lived in the same mobile park.
Huckaby is charged with two counts of furnishing someone a harmful substance and one count of child endangerment in the drugging cases.
In the case involving Sandra Cantu, Huckaby is charged with murder with the special circumstances of rape, kidnapping and lewd or lascivious conduct with a child under 14, which could make her eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Sandra was last seen on a surveillance camera skipping near her home just five doors down from the defendant.
On Monday, Huckaby entered the courtroom smiling, but her demeanor became tearful and somber as the indictment was read and debate on her next court appearance ensued.
Testa said the district attorney's office is treating the case as if it will be a death penalty case, but no decision is expected for at least two months.
Prosecutors convened a grand jury instead of holding a preliminary hearing in the case to ensure a speedy trial and avoid a possible change of venue. Testa also told Lofthus he wants a speedy trial because the case involves minors and should be made a priority.
Lofthus countered that it would be premature to set a trial within 30 days because Behar had not seen the indictment or the voluminous grand jury testimony.
"We need to do the case one time, and we need to have the case done right," the judge said. "The defense needs time to prepare."
Lofthus then scheduled a Sept. 10 hearing to discuss possible trial dates. Huckaby remains in the San Joaquin County Jail without bail.
Jeffery Dickson Convicted of Raping & Sodomizing 7-year-old
Greene County jurors have convicted a Springfield man accused of kidnapping, raping and sodomizing a 7-year-old-girl in April 2008.
The eight-man, four-woman jury found Jeffery A. Dickson, 39, guilty of child kidnapping, forcible rape and two counts of forcible sodomy. A sentencing hearing on Oct. 23 will determine whether he spends the rest of his life in prison.
Dickson — who’d been relatively sanguine over four days of testimony — stood, stoic, as Greene County Circuit Judge Michael Cordonnier read off the convictions to a packed courtroom.
Dickson will appeal, his public defender said.
Earlier today, attorneys presented their closing arguments to the jury, which deliberated for just over two hours before announcing the verdict.
In his argument, Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Russ Dempsey methodically laid out the evidence against Dickson.
How several witnesses described Dickson being present at the North Kansas Expressway home where an all-night card game was taking place on April 5, 2008. How the girl, now 8, also was there, having been brought by her grandmother.
Dickson allegedly brought the girl Kool-Aid and helped her with the computer at various points. He also allegedly brought a cousin to the West Nichols Street home where the attack later occurred, selling him a TV.
Dempsey recounted the testimony of the alleged victim, who took the stand and described how “Jeff” came to the window of a bedroom she was playing in. He promised her a Barbie doll if she’d come with him, she said.
Dickson then allegedly took the girl to the home at 1024 W. Nichols St. — the owner wasn’t there — raped and sodomized her. He then allegedly choked her to unconsciousness and set the house on fire, an allegation for which he is not charged due to a lack on concrete physical evidence.
“Quite honestly, I don’t care if an accelerant was used,” Dempsey said, referring to fuel investigators believe was used to start the blaze. “I don’t care if he used a blow torch. I don’t care if he started it with a single match. I don’t care if a bolt of lightning struck the house.
“The fact of the matter is that (the girl) was raped and sodomized, then left inside the house when it caught fire.”
Testimony indicated the girl picked Dickson out of a photo lineup after the attack.
Lastly, Dempsey discussed a partial DNA profile found on the girl’s thigh after the attack. Because the sample was scant, analysts were not able to build a full DNA profile.
However, they performed a Y-chromosome test on the swab, and found it matched DNA on Dickson’s Y-chromosome.
That same profile would be found on any male relatives in Dickson’s paternal lineage, the analyst said. Additionally, it might be found in 1-in-3,636 individuals.
Prosecutors argue the coincidence is too great for it to have come from anyone but Dickson.
Public defender Rod Hackathorn, meanwhile, argued the girl had been swayed into believing Dickson was her attacker.
“What this case has been about from the defense standpoint from day one has been whether or not Jeff Dickson committed this crime,” Hackathorn said. “What this case has not been about is whether or not something happened to (the girl).”
He noted the child was the sole eyewitness who could say what happened to her in the early morning hours of April 6, 2008, and pointed out changes in her story from the attack until Dickson’s trial.
Prominent in this argument was the girl’s interview at Springfield’s Child Advocacy Center. Asked if she’d ever seen the man who attacked her in that interview, the girl said she hadn’t seen him until he came to her window.
In testimony, she referred to Dickson by name.
But prosecutors noted the girl described Dickson to her mother as she lay in a hospital bed shortly after the attack. That description allegedly involved a man who’d given her Kool-Aid, and was wearing a “do-rag,” as Dickson was that night.
Hackathorn suggested the girl was swayed by her grandmother, who allegedly had begun to suspect Dickson before she met the girl at the hospital.
“Don’t you think that grandma wanted to give a name?” he said. “Well, Jeff is the easy target. They convicted Jeff as soon as grandma got to the hospital.”
Prior to attorney’s arguments, Greene County Circuit Judge Michael Cordonnier ruled Hackathorn would not be allowed to suggest Dickson’s brother might have carried out the attack.
Hackathorn had planned to argue the brother occasionally hung out at the house from which the girl was abducted, was familiar with the West Nichols Street home where the assault occurred, and lived near the girl’s grandmother.
But Cordonnier ruled “there has been no proof that anyone other than the defendant committed any act connected with this crime.”
“The court is not going to permit that argument,” he said. “To do otherwise would invite the jury to enter into conjecture.”
Hackathorn instead referred to foreign DNA found under the victim’s fingernails after the assault. Analysis of the material found it wasn’t Dickson’s.
Hackathorn suggested that the girl grabbed her attacker’s hands when he choked her, and that the DNA under her fingernails belongs to the perpetrator.
“I know your heart aches for what the little girl went through,” he told jurors. “I know you want to do something for that family. That family wants more than anything for Jeff Dickson to go to prison.
“That’s the easy thing to do: to come back with a guilty verdict. But sometimes the hard thing to do is also the right thing to do.”
In a rebuttal argument, Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Jill Patterson once again summarized the state’s evidence, then posed a question.
“How does a 7-year-old wearing jeans end up with DNA matching a person who did all those suspicious things you heard about that night? she asked. “The person who took an interest in that little girl. The person who was in the same home with her and had been to 1024 West Nichols that evening.
“How does she end up with DNA on her skin matching that person? I submit to you that you know how that DNA got on (the girl).”
The eight-man, four-woman jury found Jeffery A. Dickson, 39, guilty of child kidnapping, forcible rape and two counts of forcible sodomy. A sentencing hearing on Oct. 23 will determine whether he spends the rest of his life in prison.
Dickson — who’d been relatively sanguine over four days of testimony — stood, stoic, as Greene County Circuit Judge Michael Cordonnier read off the convictions to a packed courtroom.
Dickson will appeal, his public defender said.
Earlier today, attorneys presented their closing arguments to the jury, which deliberated for just over two hours before announcing the verdict.
In his argument, Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Russ Dempsey methodically laid out the evidence against Dickson.
How several witnesses described Dickson being present at the North Kansas Expressway home where an all-night card game was taking place on April 5, 2008. How the girl, now 8, also was there, having been brought by her grandmother.
Dickson allegedly brought the girl Kool-Aid and helped her with the computer at various points. He also allegedly brought a cousin to the West Nichols Street home where the attack later occurred, selling him a TV.
Dempsey recounted the testimony of the alleged victim, who took the stand and described how “Jeff” came to the window of a bedroom she was playing in. He promised her a Barbie doll if she’d come with him, she said.
Dickson then allegedly took the girl to the home at 1024 W. Nichols St. — the owner wasn’t there — raped and sodomized her. He then allegedly choked her to unconsciousness and set the house on fire, an allegation for which he is not charged due to a lack on concrete physical evidence.
“Quite honestly, I don’t care if an accelerant was used,” Dempsey said, referring to fuel investigators believe was used to start the blaze. “I don’t care if he used a blow torch. I don’t care if he started it with a single match. I don’t care if a bolt of lightning struck the house.
“The fact of the matter is that (the girl) was raped and sodomized, then left inside the house when it caught fire.”
Testimony indicated the girl picked Dickson out of a photo lineup after the attack.
Lastly, Dempsey discussed a partial DNA profile found on the girl’s thigh after the attack. Because the sample was scant, analysts were not able to build a full DNA profile.
However, they performed a Y-chromosome test on the swab, and found it matched DNA on Dickson’s Y-chromosome.
That same profile would be found on any male relatives in Dickson’s paternal lineage, the analyst said. Additionally, it might be found in 1-in-3,636 individuals.
Prosecutors argue the coincidence is too great for it to have come from anyone but Dickson.
Public defender Rod Hackathorn, meanwhile, argued the girl had been swayed into believing Dickson was her attacker.
“What this case has been about from the defense standpoint from day one has been whether or not Jeff Dickson committed this crime,” Hackathorn said. “What this case has not been about is whether or not something happened to (the girl).”
He noted the child was the sole eyewitness who could say what happened to her in the early morning hours of April 6, 2008, and pointed out changes in her story from the attack until Dickson’s trial.
Prominent in this argument was the girl’s interview at Springfield’s Child Advocacy Center. Asked if she’d ever seen the man who attacked her in that interview, the girl said she hadn’t seen him until he came to her window.
In testimony, she referred to Dickson by name.
But prosecutors noted the girl described Dickson to her mother as she lay in a hospital bed shortly after the attack. That description allegedly involved a man who’d given her Kool-Aid, and was wearing a “do-rag,” as Dickson was that night.
Hackathorn suggested the girl was swayed by her grandmother, who allegedly had begun to suspect Dickson before she met the girl at the hospital.
“Don’t you think that grandma wanted to give a name?” he said. “Well, Jeff is the easy target. They convicted Jeff as soon as grandma got to the hospital.”
Prior to attorney’s arguments, Greene County Circuit Judge Michael Cordonnier ruled Hackathorn would not be allowed to suggest Dickson’s brother might have carried out the attack.
Hackathorn had planned to argue the brother occasionally hung out at the house from which the girl was abducted, was familiar with the West Nichols Street home where the assault occurred, and lived near the girl’s grandmother.
But Cordonnier ruled “there has been no proof that anyone other than the defendant committed any act connected with this crime.”
“The court is not going to permit that argument,” he said. “To do otherwise would invite the jury to enter into conjecture.”
Hackathorn instead referred to foreign DNA found under the victim’s fingernails after the assault. Analysis of the material found it wasn’t Dickson’s.
Hackathorn suggested that the girl grabbed her attacker’s hands when he choked her, and that the DNA under her fingernails belongs to the perpetrator.
“I know your heart aches for what the little girl went through,” he told jurors. “I know you want to do something for that family. That family wants more than anything for Jeff Dickson to go to prison.
“That’s the easy thing to do: to come back with a guilty verdict. But sometimes the hard thing to do is also the right thing to do.”
In a rebuttal argument, Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Jill Patterson once again summarized the state’s evidence, then posed a question.
“How does a 7-year-old wearing jeans end up with DNA matching a person who did all those suspicious things you heard about that night? she asked. “The person who took an interest in that little girl. The person who was in the same home with her and had been to 1024 West Nichols that evening.
“How does she end up with DNA on her skin matching that person? I submit to you that you know how that DNA got on (the girl).”
Michael Crites Arrested for Forcible Sodomy on 10-year-old
A 26-year-old Springfield man accused of sexually assaulting a boy near a Jordan Creek swimming spot appeared in court today, waiving his right to a probable cause hearing.
Michael W. Crites is charged with kidnapping, two counts of forcible sodomy and two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy.
Prosecutors say he snatched a 10-year-old boy from a swimming hole near the intersection of Meadowmere and Hillcrest streets on July 15, then took him into the woods and sodomized him.
Crites allegedly told the boy not to scream or it would “be worse,” according to a probable cause statement filed with the charges.
The boy ran home and told his mother of the assault.
In an interview with police, Crites allegedly said he’d been walking in the woods with the boy,
“Crites was unsure how (the boy) ended up on the ground, but stated he sat next to (the child) and touched (the boy’s) anus with his hand,” the probable cause statement said. “Crites realized what he was doing, got up, and ran away.”
Crites is scheduled to be arraigned in Greene County Circuit Court on Aug. 28. He’s being held in the Greene County Jail on a $200,000 bond.
Michael W. Crites is charged with kidnapping, two counts of forcible sodomy and two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy.
Prosecutors say he snatched a 10-year-old boy from a swimming hole near the intersection of Meadowmere and Hillcrest streets on July 15, then took him into the woods and sodomized him.
Crites allegedly told the boy not to scream or it would “be worse,” according to a probable cause statement filed with the charges.
The boy ran home and told his mother of the assault.
In an interview with police, Crites allegedly said he’d been walking in the woods with the boy,
“Crites was unsure how (the boy) ended up on the ground, but stated he sat next to (the child) and touched (the boy’s) anus with his hand,” the probable cause statement said. “Crites realized what he was doing, got up, and ran away.”
Crites is scheduled to be arraigned in Greene County Circuit Court on Aug. 28. He’s being held in the Greene County Jail on a $200,000 bond.
Kenneth Delaine Stewart Sentenced to 45 Years for Sexual Assaut of 7-year-old
A Dayton man pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to 45 years in prison in connection with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 7-year-old northeast Harris County girl abducted from a bus stop in April 2008.
Kenneth Delaine Stewart, 27, pleaded guilty on the eve of trial in state District Judge Marc Carter's court to super aggravated sexual assault. The enhanced charge mandates that he serve the entire prison sentence, prosecutors said.
Assistant District Attorney Wendy Baker said the girl's father gave a victim's impact statement, in which he thanked Stewart for letting the girl live.
Stewart's defense attorney, Alvin Nunnery, could not be reached for comment.
Investigators and members of Stewart's family said he confessed to tricking the Summerwood Elementary student into getting into his car in the Fall Creek subdivision on April 7, 2008, from a bus stop in the 14500 block of Logan Falls, police said.
More than an hour later, he dropped the girl off in Baytown, 20 miles from her home.
Clothing missing
According to court documents, some of the girl's clothing was missing when she was released and her hair had been cut. A subsequent medical examination determined the child had been assaulted.
Stewart spent a year in jail in Liberty County for assault. He also had served time in jail for burglary, theft, child endangerment and drunken driving,
His mother Theresa Jackson has said her son told his grandmother “everything happened fast” and that the child reminded him of his own 3-year-old daughter.
Before the 7-year-old was abducted, Stewart had offered a 9-year-old girl $100 to touch her genitals, police said. While she ran to alert her parents, Stewart kidnapped the 7-year-old, police said, telling her that her mother had a flat tire and sent him to pick her up.
Kenneth Delaine Stewart, 27, pleaded guilty on the eve of trial in state District Judge Marc Carter's court to super aggravated sexual assault. The enhanced charge mandates that he serve the entire prison sentence, prosecutors said.
Assistant District Attorney Wendy Baker said the girl's father gave a victim's impact statement, in which he thanked Stewart for letting the girl live.
Stewart's defense attorney, Alvin Nunnery, could not be reached for comment.
Investigators and members of Stewart's family said he confessed to tricking the Summerwood Elementary student into getting into his car in the Fall Creek subdivision on April 7, 2008, from a bus stop in the 14500 block of Logan Falls, police said.
More than an hour later, he dropped the girl off in Baytown, 20 miles from her home.
Clothing missing
According to court documents, some of the girl's clothing was missing when she was released and her hair had been cut. A subsequent medical examination determined the child had been assaulted.
Stewart spent a year in jail in Liberty County for assault. He also had served time in jail for burglary, theft, child endangerment and drunken driving,
His mother Theresa Jackson has said her son told his grandmother “everything happened fast” and that the child reminded him of his own 3-year-old daughter.
Before the 7-year-old was abducted, Stewart had offered a 9-year-old girl $100 to touch her genitals, police said. While she ran to alert her parents, Stewart kidnapped the 7-year-old, police said, telling her that her mother had a flat tire and sent him to pick her up.
Officer Anthony Miller Sentecned 5 Years for Child Porn
A police officer, who lives in western Wisconsin, is sentenced to serve time in prison for possessing child pornography.
Monday, Anthony T. Miller was sentenced to five years in prison. He lives in New Richmond, but works in Minnesota. He has been a police officer with the city of Hastings for 11 years.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice says Miller admitted downloading and trading child pornography for the past two years.
Press Release:
NEW RICHMOND - Anthony Miller, who told investigators he was a Hastings Minnesota police officer, was sentenced by Judge Vlack today on two counts of Possession of Child Pornography. He received 14 years on the first count with 4 years of initial confinement and 10 years of extended supervision. On count two Miller received 15 years with 5 years of initial confinement and 10 years extended supervision to be served concurrently.
In addition, Miller must provide a DNA sample, register as a Sex Offender, not use a computer or access the Internet without prior written approval, not possess pornography and may not have contact with any child under 18 without prior written approval.
Miller was originally charged on December 18, 2008 with Possession of Child Pornography and Sexual Exploitation of a Child.
"Sadly, a man sworn to protect society has committed a crime victimizing our most vulnerable," said Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, whose office investigated the crime with the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the New Richmond Police Department. "Today's sentence sends a strong message: download and distribute child pornography and you will go to prison for a long time."
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