Catch and Release sex offender kidnaps local man during drug binge

 

Timothy Andrew Gorko (Courtesy DPS)

Another strung out sex offender with nothing to lose, another slap on the wrist; another illegal gun, another local victim. Another drug dealer in and out of jail to snitch on his buddies; another day in Cherokee County, Texas. 

This isn't the first time Timothy Gorko has been arrested in Cherokee County for being a paroled felon with a gun. Gorko, age 37, has been living in Rusk, Texas for the last 10 years under Cherokee County sex offender supervision from a 2008 statutory rape conviction in Pennsylvania. He was charged last month in Montgomery County, Texas for dealing crystal meth in the Conroe area. Takes a lot of tobacco spit to keep up with this guy.

How does a paroled sex offender with multiple drug charges get released on bail?

Timothy Gorko, arrested 11/09/21 for Possession with Intent to deliver a controlled substance (Courtesy Montgomery County).

Meanwhile, back at the crack house in Rusk, TX:

One month later on Monday 12/13/2021, the Cherokee County Sheriff Department was alerted Tim Gorko had shot at his girlfriend and another person during a domestic dispute. Before deputies arrived, Gorko forced one of his neighbors at gunpoint to drive him to Lufkin to evade arrest. After a high speed chase, he was apprehended by the Highway Patrol. Gorko was shot in the neck during the traffic stop and taken back to Rusk; the hostage driving the car was shaken but unharmed. Timothy Gorko is charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping, evading arrest, and of course, delivery of a controlled substance called crystal meth. (Source: KETK)

Cherokee County hides the identity of local sex offenders.

Police released the body cam footage of the incident, however Cherokee County and local media did not release Timothy Gorko's extensive CRIMINAL HISTORY and SEX OFFENSE status. Gorko is a Lifetime Sex Offender. His supervision by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office began in 2012. He was officially released from parole in 2016 while he was actually incarcerated for violating his parole. Gorko was out on bond during this latest hostage standoff. Because he is a sex offender with a gun and multiple arrests, this story has dropped off the East Texas news boards. 

(KETK)  

Sweet deals keep a comin' for violent sex offenders.

Timothy Gorko was on parole when he moved to East Texas. After settling into his new digs in Cherokee County, Gorko was arrested in 2015 for absconding his sex offender registration and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. He pleaded no contest, sentenced to 2 years TDCJ, and released in 2018. (Source: Jacksonville Progress, "3 arrested during sex offender compliance check" Dec 11, 2015)

Timothy Gorko at age 31 circa 2015

Cherokee County Criminal Docket Case 19988
THE STATE OF TEXAS vs GORKO, TIMOTHY ANDREW
Filed 03/28/2016 - Unlawful Possession of Firearm by Felon
Disposition: 05/03/2016 Conviction-guilty plea or nolo cont-no jury

Anyone with two working brain cells knows this drug addict was constantly being monitored and his meth connections surveilled. 

Gorko has been in and out of Cherokee County custody for drug possession and parole violations, making him the perfect Jail House snitch, until something goes wrong. And it usually does when drugs are involved. (Source: Jacksonville Progress, March 12, 2016) The District Clerk will have to strike Timothy Gorko's name from the next jury pool headed to the courthouse basement.

The criminal justice system in Cherokee County Texas is there only to enrich the District Attorney, a small group of lawyers on the Rusk square, and a handful of people running the place into the ground. Law enforcement still operates in the lazy 1970's, while their drug informants on the dole are getting more violent and more dangerous to the public. State Senators and Representatives, the FBI, and Texas Rangers all look the other way while those at the top of county government like Carl Phillips steal money and molest children for decades.

(Source: Former East Texas corrections director molested child for more than 18 months, KETK)

Crystal meth dealers and out of state sex offenders pour into the area because they know if they cooperate with authorities, they'll be part of the clique. 

In 2020, father and son Theodore Smith and James Smith moved from California to Cherokee County, TX because it is a safe haven for child molesters. They knew convicted pedophiles are called for jury duty and the District Judge's signature was forged to release sex offenders. They thought if they ever got caught, they'd be in good company with the former head of the Cherokee County Probation Department who filmed and raped children.  In October 2021, the two were arrested in their Alto, TX  home after Sacramento law enforcement made a discovery on their California property of a horde of child pornography dating back decades. Theodore Smith was extradited back to California, charged with 34 counts of lewd acts with a child and his bond set at $7 million.

Two men arrested in Texas in connection with California child sexual assault case

Theodore Smith, 86, and his son James Smith, 62, who live in Alto, Texas, were arrested and are in custody awaiting extradition to California for their alleged involvement in the sexual assault of children, according to a news release.

The case leading to the arrests emerged in mid-March, when a Sacramento County resident who was renovating a recently purchased home discovered hundreds of images containing child pornography and children involved in sex acts, according to the news release.

Detectives who inspected the images believed the pictures were taken between 1985 and 1995 and were left behind by the previous residents of the home, who had moved to Texas the year prior.

On Wednesday, sheriff’s detectives assisted by two Texas sheriff’s offices and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security served a search warrant at a home in Cherokee County, Texas. After that, arrest warrants were issued for the two men. The elder Smith was arrested at home in Alto while his son was arrested while on a trip back to California, according to the news release. (Source: Sacramento Bee, Oct. 15, 2021)

 (KETK)

2 Alto, TX city hall clerks indicted for felony theft

Alto, TX: 

Two former City of Alto clerks have posted bond after being indicted for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the city. The theft of public funds allegedly began in October 1, 2010, according to court records. The duo has been charged with felony theft by a public servant. (Courtesy KETK) The Texas Rangers began investigating the missing funds back in April after the two City employees were terminated. (Jacksonville Progress). Years and years of fishing out the City coffers has deliberately gone unnoticed.

  

A Cherokee County grand jury has indicted two former City of Alto employees on felony theft by a public servant charges.

Jeanie Mignon Curtis Selman, 35, of Alto, was indicted for second-degree felony theft by a public servant when the Cherokee County grand jury met on Aug. 22.

According to the text of the indictment East Texas News obtained Tuesday, the grand jury met in the 2nd Judicial District Court. The indictment alleges that Selman stole somewhere between $30,000 and $150,000 while she was employed as a court clerk by the city of Alto. The indictment states that the theft occurred on Oct. 1, 2010.

The Cherokee County grand jury also indicted another former City of Alto employee. Whittney Nicole Arriola, 31, of Alto, was indicted on a felony theft by a public servant charge as well. The indictment states that the alleged theft occurred on Oct. 1, 2010. She is also accused of stealing between $30,000 and $150,000 from the city. Like Selman, she was working as a court clerk at the time.

Each woman had a bail amount of $10,000. Both Selman and Arriola have posted their bail amounts, and they have been released from the county jail.

Back in April, East Texas News learned that the Texas Rangers were asked to look into allegations of theft that occurred at Alto City Hall, according to Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Jean Dark.

Dark said the investigation was requested by the Alto Police Department.

(Source: KTRE)    

(Source: CBS 19)

Murderers and drug addicts on the Cherokee County payroll

 

(Courtesy: Smith County)

Michael Dashawn Harris, sentenced to life (with parole) for the murder of Jacksonville, TX resident Faye Bell Harris.

Time served: 6 years.

(Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress, January 22, 2004)

"Harris faces competency hearing."

The capital murder case of Michael Dashawn Harris is scheduled to get underway next week - in a preliminary sense - with a hearing to determine his competency to stand trial.

Judge Dwight Phifer, who oversees the state's 2nd Judicial District, has also ordered that jury selection for the trial begin on either Feb. 9 or 17.

Police officers arrested Harris, 44, on Aug. 4, 2003, after he went to his mother-in-law's house and allegedly shot and killed his estranged wife, Faye Harris. Harris was also charged with retaliation.

In Texas, any time a murder is committed in the course of committing certain felonies - such as retaliation - a person may be charged with capital murder and be eligible for the death penalty.

Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth has not said if he will seek the death penalty in the Harris case. (Courtesy: Daily Progress)

After trying to burn down their house and later murdering his ex-wife in front of their daughter, Michael Dashawn Harris passed away 6 years into a life sentence arranged by District Attorney Elmer Beckworth. The version of events promulgated by the folks in Cherokee County and the district attorney is that the murder was a result of lax felony bond requirements and that prosecutors followed the letter of the law. After all that money was spent on Beckworth traveling to Austin to ostensibly champion Faye Bell Harris as a victim's rights advocate and to grandstand, Cherokee County newspapers did not contest Michael Harris' possible early release to the Parole Board.

They are confident the ignorant public has been fooled completely in this case; they convinced the Harris family that they were not responsible for allowing a drug informant on the streets after repeatedly arresting him for escalating domestic violence. What is Michael Harris' value to the district attorney's office?

Michael Harris was initially arrested on a Cherokee County warrant by the Tyler Police Department on January 27, 2003. He was transported back to Cherokee County where he was charged with arson/attempt to cause bodily injury in a house of worship. He made bail and continued to repeatedly attack his estranged ex-wife while on felony bond.

Oddly enough, Michael D. Harris was not just charged with a homicide; he pleaded to murdering a "peace officer or fireman"  and attempting to burn down this so-called "place of worship."  To the district attorney's office, the Harris household was a religious safe house strategically located in the city of Jacksonville's northern drug corridor. Hence Elmer Beckworth charged Michael Harris with murdering a "peace officer," [the victim Mrs. Harris], i.e. the other informant living in the house and cooperating with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department. Faye Harris worked as a therapy technician at the Rusk State Hospital according to the Cherokeean Herald.

 (Source: Cheorkeean April 30, 1998 Sec. A, p. 7)

Sources:  Criminal Docket Case 15388: CAPITAL MURDER OF A PEACE OFFICER OR FIREMAN THE STATE OF TEXAS vs HARRIS, MICHAEL DASHAWN. Filed 09/22/2003 -Disposition: 10/18/2004 Conviction-guilty plea or nolo cont-no jury.

Case 15354: MURDER; Case 15387: ASSAULT CAUSES BODILY INJURY FAMILY VIOLENCE ENHANCED; Case 15250: ARSON BODILY INJURY/DEATH IN PLACE OF WORSHIP. 2nd District Court, District Clerk, Cherokee County, TX.

The Michael Harris case never went to trial; he pleaded No Contest to the 2003 homicide after his in-and-out rehab stints at the Rusk State Hospital. His bail was set and reset multiple times by the Cherokee County court system. Faye Harris' calls to the district court to have her ex-husband locked up for his escalating domestic violence were ignored. Thousands of taxpayer dollars have been spent to convince the public otherwise.



Are residents beginning to realize the depth and breadth of public corruption going on under their noses and why their municipalities' police forces have dried up? Where has all the taxpayer money for public safety gone? Exactly how is the District Attorney's Law Enforcement Fund from seizures being spent?

Taxpayer money is spent subsidizing the families and allies of the same group of people who have been draining Cherokee County dry for decades. Cherokee County is a family-operated criminal enterprise and along with their familial kickbacks, their confidential informants have bankrupted the city and county coffers. According to CBS News, the towns of Wells and Alto, TX have both had their entire police forces furloughed as their city councils do some fiduciary housecleaning. The tiny town of Alto, TX is making up for a $185,000 budget deficit with the layoffs. (Source: CBS News, Tiny Texas town lays off entire police force)

For the first time in modern history, these one stoplight towns have done a little fiscal oversight and discovered that their city services are in the RED. Too much taxpayer money has been allocated for personal use which includes paying law enforcement and their families to illegally monitor the law-abiding public. They have decided to cut their city law enforcement and have overextended sheriff’s deputies respond to their emergencies. The local Cherokeean Herald reports Alto, TX (population 1150) had five officers on payroll for nighttime alarm patrol in a one-horse town.


Looking for an oral history of Cherokee County, Texas? 

Chapter 1: A history of corruption that cannot be rewritten or ignored.

Former Alto police chiefs’ salaries have ranged from $16K to over $100K, depending on who the applicant was related to, even though the city's population has remained at or below 1100 for the last 30 years. Their turnover has been frequent, controversial and bitter at times. Relatives of the former district attorney have framed past police chiefs to run them out of town and move themselves into a coveted salaried position. (Source: Cherokeean) Former Alto mayor Garwin Baugh tells the Jacksonville Daily Progress in 1992 how he and Police Chief Tom Griffith were targeted for openly discussing the cover up of a murdered feed store owner. (Source: Daily Progress May 1, 1992)

Chief Griffith was ousted and the district attorney's investigator took his job to make sure the capital murder conviction in the case was not overturned. All public discussions of the case were quelled. The conviction was eventually overturned and an innocent defendant facing life in prison was released on time served.  The case was The State vs. Terry Watkins. Elmer Beckworth represented the State at Watkins' appeal; his job was to thwart any and all evidentiary review hearings that proved Terry Watkins' innocence. The victim's life insurance was used among other things to pay State witnesses for the prosecutor, former district attorney Charles Holcomb. Taxpayer money has always been spent to keep the family clan in office and against whistleblowers. Proceeds from insurance payouts also come in handy for hush money.

Charles Holcomb takes money to hire witnesses (Source: Daily Progress August 23, 1990)

During this current police furlough, the sheriff’s department and district attorney’s office will have to rely solely on their good ol’ boy/ bitty network to keep watch over the southern part of the county. Even more taxpayer money will be allocated for illegal phone drops, jury plants, ‘anonymous’ tipsters and other reserve officers' clandestine eavesdropping.

Every week the local newspapers report the status of merchant sales tax revenues as if it were a true signal of the economic status of the county. Following their logic, these little towns rake in the sales tax but cannot afford to have police protection? Think again.



The only investigative technique utilized by law enforcement in this area is illegal phone tapping of its residents. At least since the 1920's they have enlisted their family members to listen to and record as many perfectly legal telephone and innocuous business conversations as possible throughout the county. In their minds there is no need for an active police force in rural areas because their 3rd generation phone tapping network is intact and operating at 100%.

Informants provide routine drug busts to justify county and state level investigators and their salaries, while taxpayer money is pooled to help pay these CIs' house bills and keep them in the county. Instead of being ostracized, murderers and drug addicts are on the dole in Cherokee County. When it comes to politicking, these informants provide pabulum for district attorney's and sheriff investigators. That is where the money has gone. Tax revenue goes to keep these salaried parasites in office and against any and all who challenge them. Traveling public beware if you use the local telephone systems or post offices.



No need to dial 9-1-1 folks; they know about crime before it even takes place. Usually they are the perpetrators.

Sales tax reciprocity from the city to the county level will cease to exist until Cherokee County voters are brave enough to do some judiciary housecleaning. Meanwhile, Cherokee County taxpayer dollars are still being spent on prosecuting Robert Fox for filing a Notice to Sue in Smith County; investigating the Precinct 3 Commissioner for her bonafide due diligence; and decades of private property improvements by county officials in bed with the district attorney. The entire county, much less the small towns of Alto and Wells, TX, can no longer afford the public corruption that has been going on for decades.

Lon Morris coach arrested for child porn at Cherokee County Jr. College

Warning: Cherokee County Texas institutions are bastions of child exploitation and employ purveyors of child pornography.

The mass exodus of Rusk Independent School District faculty members earlier this year is based upon the revelation that protected locals and administration officials with a penchant for photography have been under FBI scrutiny for years- stemming from the 2001-2002 Department of Justice crackdown of Palestine, Texas resident Mark Bates - the Webmaster of a worldwide e-mail child pornography ring originating from Internet servers in Anderson and Cherokee Counties. Why did the Rusk High School principal and all those Rusk ISD teachers and coaches turn in their resignations?

The FBI sting called "Operation Candyman" netted individuals throughout the country, including an A&M cadet in Brownsville and two men from the Houston,TX area. 89 subscribers total were indicted. Mark Bates, age 33 of Palestine, TX was sentenced in December 2002 to 30 years prison for being the mastermind and moderator of the website used to download images federal prosecutors called "absolutely appalling in the depth of their depravity." Many arrested subscribers to Mark Bates' email group (such as Toby Barnett from Lufkin, Texas) were people 'holding positions of trust with frequent contact with children.' Mark Bates had two prior child molestation convictions and a history of mental disorders.

The ongoing cover up of this type of depraved and illegal activity should show the rest of the state just how duplicitous Cherokee County Texas really is. Especially when local officials pretend to have no knowledge of kiddie porn being distributed from computers owned by the school district.
A place where under the guise of fake evangelicalism, the images of broken and bloody bodies of children have been traded like Green Stamps on the Internet for decades. While at the same time Cherokee County district attorney Elmer Beckworth offers probation to a Rusk Texas man who mutilated his own 12-month old daughter, and the district court voraciously accepts any and all plea bargains to over 3 dozen registered sex offenders within the county.

Mark Bates' child porn ring of 6 years ago apparently never ceased to exist outside the area, with ongoing federal sentences (such as Jeffrey Scott Ray of Nacogdoches and Toby Barnett of Lufkin, TX) never making it to the pressroom. The list continues.

Jacksonville, Texas:

Lon Morris College's head golf coach Barry Dean Griffin, age 38, has been arraigned in federal court for possession and distribution of child pornography. Coach Barry Griffin was arrested Monday, June 9, 2008 after surrendering to federal authorities in Tyler, Texas. According to the June 10, 2008 issue of the Tyler Paper, Lon Morris faculty member Barry Griffin : "has been charged by complaint for allegedly possessing and distributing child pornography on May 30 in Cherokee County [Texas]. If convicted, he could face 5 to 20 years in prison for the distribution charge and up to 10 years in prison for the possession charge."

Monday's appearance by Griffin in front of Tyler, TX based US Magistrate Judge John Love was reported here first. He has not been formally indicted.



Lon Morris College coach Barry Dean Griffin

Barry Griffin is a junior college Kinesiology instructor and coach for Jacksonville, Texas based Lon Morris and has been since 2005. The Lon Morris men's golf team took fourth place in a recently held NJCAA tournament in Huntsville, Alabama, with hotel accommodations arranged by the college. Griffin has also traveled out of state to Daytona, Florida where he accompanied the Lon Morris College girl's golf team, who took a 4th place prize at the women's NJCAA national championship games.

Similarly, the Jacksonville home of Rusk ISD drama coach Harold “Bo” Scallon was raided last year by federal authorities on a tip from the Longview, TX police department. The tip being that the High School teacher was distributing child pornography over the Internet. His personal laptop, school computer and hard drives were confiscated by the FBI. Scallon pleaded guilty on April 4, 2008 in federal court to possessing over 150 sadomasochistic images of minors. He taught for the Rusk Independent School District for nearly 30 years and with parents' blessings, participated in numerous overnight 'theater camps.' Due to a plea agreement, his child porn distribution charge was dropped by federal prosecutors, though he still faces decades in federal prison. Certainly the community and school administrators will rally around to petition for Mr. Scallon's early release and leniency prior to his sentencing date being reported. As they did with Alto, Texas postmaster Herbert Dominguez, prior to his federal sentencing for stealing $27,000 of United States Post Office material- but never reporting it.

Local Cherokee County, Texas media portray Rusk High School Theater class' Bo Scallon official retirement and contractual obligations to the school district as ending in April 2007, prior to the FBI raid. However, Harold "Bo" Scallon's continual employment with the Rusk ISD was apparent to the FBI because investigators seized his company computer from the Rusk High School and examined its hard drives. Forensics on his computers uncovered massive files storing violent and graphic depictions involving children.



mugshot of Rusk,TX teacher Harold "Bo" Scallon

The ongoing out-of-county reports of federal investigations compared to the nonexistent media coverage, nor local outcry, begs the question: Has Cherokee County, Texas always been a child molestation and child pornography refuge? Local offenders certainly do not have to worry about prison time if they cut deals with the Cherokee County District Attorney's office after falling in the hands of Elmer Beckworth .

View the locations of registered child molesters living steps from the Rusk Texas courthouse and Rusk Texas Jr.-Sr. High Schools mapped on a website called FamilyWatchdog .

Found at: http://www.familywatchdog.us/

Infant molesters (whose victims are as young as 1 to 6 years-old) all handed probation and local Adult Supervision by the Cherokee County district attorney's office -and not spending one day in prison.



[known registered Rusk, TX sex offenders - courtesy of Family Watchdog]

As a footnote, Harold "Bo" Scallon was sentenced on Tuesday June 17, 2008 in the US District Courts to 6 1/2 years federal prison time for possessing Internet child pornography. He will remain under parole supervision for 5 years after completing his federal prison term. Had the Rusk ISD faculty member actually acted on his sick fantasies and molested a Jr. High student, then the Cherokee County district attorney would have offered Scallon a few months probation (just like Elmer Beckworth's office did for Chris Hennessy, a Rusk Texas patrol officer offered a paltry probation sentence of months instead of years for raping a Rusk ISD Jr. High girl in 2004). Or Cherokee County prosecutors would simply ignore the problem like the community and Rusk school board has for the last 30 years of Harold "Bo" Scallon's teaching career. The world may never know how many deals were struck to keep this guy's perverted pastimes out of the Rusk ISD school bulletin and news.

Also buried in the archives and the local School Board meeting minutes is a report of another Rusk ISD school teacher and former Jacksonville High School faculty member, Brian Basse sentenced to 3 years TDCJ time in 2007 for sexual contact with a student. Explicit Instant Messages and photos were recovered from his laptop computer by the FBI. Basse had been a Rusk Texas school teacher for 7 years, before relocating from the Jacksonville ISD. Brian Basse's 36 month sentence (which he may serve 80% of) was handed to him from the 2nd Judicial District Court in Rusk, TX.







And don't forget about Josh Allen music teacher at the Jacksonville Christian Academy and youth minister for the Tyler Street Baptist Church being sentenced in 2007 to 4 years for possession of child pornography- over 600 graphic and violent images. Tyler Street Baptist Church is a long time polling place for voters in Cherokee County's Precinct No. 15. The US District Court "noted that Allen has no past criminal history and that he had the support of his church - factors in issuing the relatively lenient sentence." Great. Gregg County Texas charged Josh Allen for his porn distribution into their county, since Cherokee County Texas failed to do so. A local investigation was not required from the source because, as Allen told Federal Judge Leonard Davis during his January 4, 2007 sentencing, local authorities believed the choir director still "had an opportunity to be part of the solution to the problem" of child porn being distributed via the Internet from Cherokee County, Texas. Allen received the same lack of media attention coupled with an outpouring of local support as did Jeffrey Scott Ray and Toby Lynn Barnett. Ray's residence in Nacogdoches, TX was raided by federal authorities in 2006 and his sentencing not reported; Jeffrey Ray Scott got 70 months in federal prison. Toby Barnett was charged with possession of child porn and given 3 years probation in 2002 for "not having a prior criminal record," even though he had been convicted in Nacogdoches, TX for assault in 1996.

Just do a comparison on how the legal system operates 40 miles away in Smith County, Texas. For instance, the recent Wednesday June 18, 2008 sentencing of Daniel Wayne Tidwell, age 29 of Tyler, in the 241st District Court doling out 50 years state prison time. This is after Tidwell pleading guilty to the sexual assault of a 15 year-old girl. Daniel Tidwell did have prior felony convictions, but regardless was facing 5 years to life for the rape.

Don't forget the crack down on the Mineola Swinger's Club that has made national news, either. The third defendant out of a string of arrests, Patrick "Booger Red" Kelly, a foster parent, is on trial for drugging children 9 years-old and younger and forcing them to perform strip club-esque dances for patrons of Mineola, Texas' honky tonk. A version of what Cherokee County, Texas' counterfeit Christians have been doing for decades: exploiting children and getting away with it. Smith County CPS removed the children from the homes of participants beginning in 2004 when it became apparent drug use and sexual abuse was occurring in the "deeply religious community." Also awaiting trial are Dennis Boyd and Rebecca Pittman; and Jimmy Dale and Shelia Darlene Sones. Local swingers in the East Texas sex ring Jamie Pittman and Shauntel Loraine Mayo were convicted and sentenced to life in prison earlier in May, for their involvement in making children perform sex acts on stage.

An even better recent comparison would be the 2006 trial in Smith County of a preacher named Jefferson Marion Moore, age 58 at the time, also the Dogwood City Daycare and Preschool operator convicted of molesting a 6 year-old girl left in his care. He was a full time pastor for the Dogwood City Chapel, or "Brother Jeff" as they called him. Jefferson Moore was convicted and sentenced to LIFE in prison for the rape he committed. Moore had been indicted on three counts of sexual assault of a minor involving a 6, 7 and 4 year-old. "Brother Jeff" Moore was also charged with retaliation after an altercation with Smith County prosecutors during courtroom deliberations and given 10 extra years. On the brighter side, the Tyler Paper reports in its June 25, 2008 edition that Jefferson Moore died of "natural causes" in his cellblock earlier this month after serving 2 years in prison. Dogwood City, Texas is a small unincorporated community on Lake Palestine and ideal retirement spot for district judges, located on the Cherokee County / Smith County border and 20 miles from downtown Jacksonville, Texas. No probation offers or lenient sentences for this child molester; the Smith County community certainly did not rally in support of the only preacher and licensed babysitter in their tiny town. Incidentally, the United States Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday June 25, 2008 that it is unconstitutional for states to execute child rapists. That will certainly keep Cherokee County's sexual predator population on a steady incline.



Pastor Jefferson Moore (deceased), daycare owner and child molester

In April 2005, the Kilgore, Texas newspaper The Kilgore News Herald began an expose, aptly named "Child Pornography Big Problem in East Texas," on how pervasive the crime was becoming.

Next month, more East Texas child molesters off the streets and in federal prison, such as Franklin Albert Pearce of Wood County, Texas gets life for the sexual assault of a 6 year-old girl. William Allen Pipes of Gilmer, TX pleads guilty to distributing child porn and faces 10 years.

In local school news, the superintendent of Overton ISD Dr. Mark Stretcher, after "unexpectedly" resigning his post in January due to a "personal illness and pressure" and subsequently throwing the Overton, TX school district in disarray- why Dr. Stretcher has been charged with felony theft of public funds. Stretcher pleaded guilty to 'theft in office' on Friday June 27, 2008. Beware Rusk County, Texas you are in a close second for most corrupt.

City of Rusk Texas bookkeeper indicted for embezzling $150,000 of government funds; wife of City of Jacksonville Texas Mayor Pro-Tem/ City Councilman

Rusk Texas:

The Cherokeean Herald reports on its online March 12, 2008 issue that Rusk, TX city bookkeeper, Doris Robinson, wife of City of Jacksonville TX councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Hubert Robinson, has been indicted by a Cherokee County TX grand jury for stealing over $150,000 from the Rusk TX water department.

City of Rusk Texas bookkeeper Doris Robinson

Mrs. Doris Robinson worked at Rusk's City Hall located at 408 N MAIN ST as the city Permit and Billing Clerk until she was promoted to City Bookkeeper in February 2006. Prior to taking office the article cites, Doris Robinson allegedly embezzled water department monies over a 2 year period. An unnoticed theft of upwards of $150 thousand in a city with the population of 5000 citizens. The Cherokee County TX grand jury met the second week in March 2008 and Mrs. Robinson's indictment was not reported by the District Attorney's office. The Cherokeean Herald reports it after the go-ahead from the District Attorney.

At printing The Jacksonville Daily Progress also has not printed the fact the wife of the city of Jacksonville's Mayor Pro Tem had been indicted. Councilman Hubert Robinson's wife posted bond on Monday March 10, 2008. Mr. Robinson is an active member of the historical Sweet Union Baptist Church located in Jacksonville Texas.

Councilman Hubert Robinson, Jacksonville TX (District 1)

After one year of misdirections, it is high time a grand jury was seated that was not designed to prolong the case into the millennia. The EDITOR doubts there will ever be a costly and embarrassing embezzlement trial; Doris Robinson will no doubt be granted immunity for spending the last year busily trying to pay back any missing funds, in restitution. Isn't that always the way it always works when Cherokee County's version of Christians get caught with their hands in the taxpayers' coffers?

Alto Texas:
US Postmaster Herbert Michael Dominguez paid back nearly all the $27000 he stole from the post office and for his federal crime, Postmaster Dominguez gets to keep his federal pension if he successfully completes his one year probation sentence. Handed to him in late February 2008 by US District Judge Michael Schneider in Tyler, TX, because Dominguez was "such a good person who had never been in trouble before."

When Cherokee County's version of "dignitaries" commit federal crimes, citizens will only get a glimpse of it in the Tyler TX newspaper 100 miles away.