State Trooper killed by armed parole violator released by Cherokee County Texas

TEXAS PENAL CODE § 39.02 ABUSE OF OFFICIAL CAPACITY.

(a) A public servant commits an offense if, with intent to obtain a benefit or with intent to harm or defraud another, he intentionally or knowingly:
(1) violates a law relating to the public servant's
office or employment; or
(2) misuses government property, services, personnel,
or any other thing of value belonging to the government that has
come into the public servant's custody or possession by virtue of
the public servant's office or employment.


Rusk, Texas: North East Texas mourns the loss of decorated DPS trooper James Scott Burns, shot and killed the night of April 29, 2008 by ex-Kilgore, TX police officer Brandon Wayne Robertson during a high speed chase through Marion County, Texas. Robertson was under MANDATORY SUPERVISED PAROLE in Smith County, Texas. Nonetheless, Cherokee County Texas had Brandon Robertson in their custody 3 weeks prior on April 7, 2008, but chose to 'cash out' for bond on the parolee's TWO charges of felony possession of narcotics and felony possession of a gun, instead of following the letter of law and notifying the offender's Parole Officers in Smith County. Brandon Robertson had the same legal rights and lack thereof as a prisoner sitting in TDCJ despite his early parole. And on the outside, he certainly didn't have a Travel Permit that allowed him to SPEED through Cherokee and Marion Counties and back again each week.

Brandon Robertson was bonded out at $7500 each for both felony citations in Cherokee County Texas on April 7, 2008. Somebody at the courthouse told the Bondsman/woman that this was perfectly legal. And of course the Bondsman/woman, the Justice of the Peace, 2nd Judicial District Judge and arraigning Municipal Judge are all daughter, uncle, brother and father in Rusk, Texas. One would think these people had been sued enough not to listen to the legal advice of the district attorney's office.

The dirty little secret is: Category I Parolees, such as Robertson, during traffic stops and arrests are not entitled to Bail until the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole reviews the charges via the revocation process. They pretty much have to grab their ankles and spread their butt cheeks during routine traffic stops. Parolees have no "rights to bond" per se, or rights of Due Process when it comes to physical searches. A process not implemented in Cherokee County Texas even though Brandon Robertson was traveling county to county (in violation of his parole) dealing crystal meth to every Small Town Tom, Dick and Harry and Naked Trucker. And Cherokee County decided to set and keep $15000 worth of bond instead of notifying Brandon Robertson's Parole Officers of his incarceration. In turn, the Parole Officers would have 5 days to review the charges against Robertson, while Robertson sat in jail waiting for a TDCJ hearing. Quite simply, Cherokee County Texas had no legal jurisdiction to set bail for the release of the armed convict after the DPS cited him.

East Texas Trooper, James Burns slain by released parole violator

Brandon Wayne Robertson, age 37, had been on parole for multiple felony drug and theft convictions, as well as unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon in Gregg County, TX. Doing the world a favor, Robertson committed suicide Thursday May 1. The dirtbag piece of human debris killed himself after an extensive statewide manhunt immediately after his cold blooded murder of Trooper James Burns. The trooper's slaying was witnessed by travelers trying to assist the fallen lawman; a description of Robertson's vehicle was broadcasted throughout the region as authorities closed in on Robertson's whereabouts. Huddled up somewhere near his crystal meth lab in the woods of Cass County, Texas, Brandon Robertson shot himself before his capture.

Remember, the city of Jacksonville, Texas police department can help federal and state authorities locate and detain felons wanted in other states when they pop up in Cherokee County, but the Sheriff's department can't keep an absconding parolee from a neighboring county in their jail 5 days for a TDCJ Parole Board review. "The US constitution" told them they had to let Robertson out on bail, even after Elmer Beckworth and Todd Staples (R) co-opted the State legislators with the "Faye Bell Harris Amendment."

The same week parolee Brandon Robertson was arrested and released, the city of Jacksonville, Texas police department touted in the local newspaper The Daily Progress how they arrested two men from out of state affiliated with the “House of Israel” (a supposed Jacksonville based offshoot of the Republic of Texas group); one named Stephen L. Jackson, age 49 of Missouri found in the databases to be wanted on 2 counts, one federal/ one state.

From the Daily Progress April 8, 2008: “[Stephen] Jackson was found to have an outstanding ATF warrant and a warrant from the Newton County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri for unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon. He was held in the city jail overnight, and was transferred into the custody of ATF agents Tuesday afternoon.”

Jacksonville, TX Police Chief Reece Daniel publicizes how his investigators turned evidence against Jackson over to the ATF. Evidently the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department cannot do the same when it comes to parole violators from neighboring Smith County, Texas who are carrying guns, drugs and cash for bail money on their person.


Trooper James Burns leaves behind a grieving family and community. His funeral was held Saturday May 3, 2008. Murdered on the roadside by an ex-con armed with a shotgun who was recently released from Cherokee County jail - on his way back down the road with a pat on the back- for once being a good Rusk County cop and "never really doing anything wrong before" turning to selling crystal meth, stealing and killing people in a drug induced hysteria. All of which is a parole violation. They probably let him keep his gun, too.

[Trooper James Burns' patrol vehicle, courtesy Longview, TX News-Journal]

James Scott Burns was the 83rd Texas State Highway Trooper to be killed in the line of duty. The ultimate tragedy and blame lies in what neighboring county, Cherokee County TX could have done days earlier in the month of April, when Brandon Robertson was in Cherokee County's custody. His illicit drug trafficking was temporarily postponed by fellow DPS troopers to the south, patrolling Rusk, Texas. Robertson was stopped, his vehicle searched and he was then arrested for drug possession AND UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF A WEAPON BY A FELON by two Department of Public Safety officers. Robertson was transported and booked in the Cherokee County jail in Rusk, Texas on April 6th. His parole officers were not notified, instead Cherokee County decided to collect $15000 worth of 'cash-out bond' for Robertson's charges and keep Smith County and the Parole Board in the dark. A typical move for small towns trying to generate revenue.

According to an interview with arraigning Rusk, Texas municipal Judge Forrest Phiffer by Longview News Journal reporter Randy Ross, parolee Brandon Robertson was stopped at 9:40 a.m. on April 6 by the DPS and charged with “possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a felon. He [Robertson] was released the next day on two $7,500 bonds, according to sheriff’s office records.”

View the newspaper paper article titled “Suspect arrested weeks before troopers’s shooting” published May 8, 2008 by the Longview/Marshall, TX News-Journal: archived at News-Journal: http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/05/08/05082008_trooper_suspect.html

Suspect arrested weeks before trooper's shooting
By RANDY ROSS rross@longview-news.com
Published May 8, 2008

A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper stopped and arrested Brandon Wayne Robertson about three weeks before officials believe the convicted felon fatally shot Trooper James Scott Burns.

According to the Department of Public Safety, Robertson was stopped about 9:40 a.m April 6 on Texas 135 in Cherokee County. Officials did not immediately say what initiated the stop.

Robertson was arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was released the next day on two $7,500 bonds, according to sheriff's office records.

A call to the bondsman was not immediately returned, and it was unclear who contacted him.

Judge Forrest Phifer, who works for the municipal court in Rusk, Wales and Cuney, said he set the two bonds at an amount typical for the charges. He said he could not set an "oppressive amount" without violating the U.S. Constitution.

Phifer said that he thought the trooper who arrested Robertson said there were no problems during the traffic stop and that the firearm was found in the trunk of the vehicle. He added that he didn't recall information that would have indicated that Robertson posed a risk that justified a higher bond.

Officials say Robertson fatally shot Burns after Burns pulled Robertson over in Marion County the night of April 29. Robertson was found dead May 1 with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to law officers.

Jennifer Lynne Petrick, 36, was found with Robertson and arrested on charges of possession of marijuana and probation violations. Petrick remains in Cass County jail on a $5,000 bond, according to the Cass County Sheriff's Office. Investigators say Petrick was in the car driven by Robertson on the night of the killing.

(c) 2008 Cox Newspapers, Inc. - Longview News-Journal



The next morning, the Cherokee County district judge, the sheriff's office and district attorney passed on prosecuting parolee Brandon Robertson for his illegal narcotics plus his gun and allowed Robertson to post bail. They didn't even bother to confiscate his vehicle. As a Class I felon on parole, Brandon Robertson was subject to random searches from his parole officers. During a traffic stop, the DPS would call for back up after identifying the parolee as such, as they did on April 6 in Cherokee County, for two DPS officers to be present while they searched the offender's vehicle. Caught with drugs and a gun, that parolee A.K.A. Brandon Robertson would automatically have his right to bail denied according to the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole. Robertson would be transported to the nearest county holding facility and the Sheriff, required by Texas Law, would notify the offender's Parole Officer (named in the DPS database). All those things occurred, except the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department notification to Smith County of Brandon Robertson's incarceration. Hence, Brandon Robertson was out making his DRUG MULE deliveries throughout East Texas while he was in violation of parole for the 5th time AND simultaneously out on 2 Felony bonds. His Smith County Parole Officers would have issued a warrant for his arrest by April 11, 2008 had he not voluntarily turned himself in. He apparently was set on not going back to jail alive.

"But that wouldn't make a crackheaded thug like Brandon Robertson become agitated and non-complicit in the next traffic stop by authorities." He was an "ideal" prisoner according to Cherokee County, so just because he was going back to prison didn't mean he would pull a gun on the next law enforcement officer in his path of self destruction... Naaaw. For God's Sake, the maniac killed himself to avoid going to prison. Cherokee County Texas in typical fashion would rather blame the United States Constitution and recite fictitious legal requirements for accepting $15000 bail from an armed convict on his way back to prison.

Cherokee County authorities never even notified Robertson's parole officers in Smith County. In a matter of hours, Brandon Wayne Robertson was back on the highway to deal drugs, armed with a 20- Gauge COPKILLER. They literally just let the guy drive off. No hearing, no phone calls to a Parole Officer, no formal arraignment, just a deputy escort right out the front door.

22 days later, Brandon Robertson killed a Texas State Trooper who chased him through Marion County Texas transporting more illegal drugs into the region.

 ex-con and ex-police officer Brandon Wayne Robertson

Brandon Robertson was well-known by local law enforcement, having previously worked for the Overton, TX and Kilgore, TX police departments between 1990 and 1999 and with the Rusk County Sheriff's Department (notorious for its internal corruption problems) for several years. Robertson turned to transporting and selling crsytal methamphetamine, or "ICE" to supplement his law enforcement salary until authorities arrested him. He had served 4 months of a 4 year sentence in TDCJ for multiple crimes until he was paroled in April 2007. Parole is a privilege not a right, an opportunity granted to prove rehabilitation dictated by the State Legislature. However, Brandon Robertson's early release on good behavior is not the issue: The issue is Cherokee County Texas setting bond on a parole violator and not notifying Smith County of his arrests. Brandon Robertson would have and should have been transported to the county responsible for his MANDATORY PAROLE SUPERVISION. And while the offender remained behind bars, a parole hearing would have decided his right to bail. Not a "City Judge" from Rusk Texas trying to generate "cash bonds" for the county to pocket. Cash money generated from the sale of illegal narcotics going into the coffers of Cherokee County Texas.


Any attempt to lie for the record by Cherokee County Texas authorities is the normal operating procedure. A parolee with a gun in his possession is an automatic incarceration for however long it takes to have a Parole Hearing or district court hearing to ascertain bail requirements. Elmer Beckworth, Sheriff James Campbell and other locals in Cherokee County recently championed the preventable death of Faye Bell Harris of Jacksonville, TX and the need to "deny bail" to at-risk offenders. A needless death of a woman begging the Cherokee County district courts for help, even though her estranged husband Michael Harris continued to threaten, trespass and eventually shot gun her dead in her front yard in front of her children. Now after redundant and fictitious legislation has passed since 2006, i.e. Proposition 2, Proposition 6 and Proposition 13 reported by local Cherokee County media as "Elmer's Law has passed unanimously..."

...why, now for some reason Cherokee County Texas cannot deny bail or even notify the appropriate parole officers of a felon with a gun and crystal meth who is stopped by the DPS in their own county. The birthplace of the Faye Bell Harris Amendment or as locals call it, "Elmer's Law" will not assess a parolee with illegal drugs, a major drug habit, "a shotgun in the trunk" and now going straight back to prison when his Parole Officers find out about his arrests. Why- Cherokee County Texas couldn't imagine Brandon Robertson as the slightest danger to society.

Cherokee County can't even put into effect the laws sponsored by its State Representative, State Senator, district attorney, sheriff, Postmasters, attorneys and other fools and liars willing to sign on to the actions of violent offenders in their own custody.
On April 6, 2008, three weeks before the slaying in Marion County, Brandon Wayne Robertson was stopped and arrested in Cherokee County Texas by a patrolling DPS trooper. Again, Robertson was busted for felony drug possession (crystal meth) along with a concealed weapon and transported to the Cherokee County Texas Sheriff's Department. TDCJ parolee and ex-cop Brandon Robertson spent one comfortable evening in Cherokee County jail and was released the very next day by Cherokee County authorities on two $7500 bonds. Robertson was arraigned on April 7, 2008 by Cherokee County even though he was on parole with multiple felony convictions. Despite his cited parole violations and criminal status as a convicted felon, Robertson was freed to go back to transporting his drugs in and around Rusk and Cherokee counties, while his case was postponed indefinitely.

Brandon Wayne Robertson's connections to his former employers in the Rusk County Sheriff's Office and those within Cherokee County, TX are all too apparent. These two adjoining East Texas counties are the choice for local crystal meth traffickers, often disgraced former peace officers such as Robertson, who have cut deals with their former employers to continue manufacturing and distributing narcotics into the region.
Hopefully, this debacle of Cherokee County Texas allowing an armed and dangerous parole violator out of jail to go out and take the life of a DPS officer, a father, brother, husband and dedicated East Texas lawman, hopefully this will finally open the eyes of the US Attorneys' Offices operating in the region. It is long past time to hold Cherokee County accountable for brazenly operating against the intent of the law. Knowingly and willingly letting an armed and dangerous parole violator out THE NEXT DAY on a measly 2nd Degree Felony charge should be the straw that broke the camel's back.

How does a felony charge of drug and weapons possession of a parolee justify only a $7500 Bond? That means Robertson only had to put up a couple of hundred dollars to a Bail Bondsman for felony possession. An inquest into the shooting of Trooper James Burns is pending by the Department of Public Safety and concerned citizens of Trooper Burns' hometown Linden, Texas in Cass County. Concerned citizens and media types interested in the truth should not focus on Robertson's girlfriend who may or may not have helped him evade arrest for 2 days. They should focus on how Cherokee County Texas views the judicial and legal system and how they collectively wipe their asses on the letter of the law. Interested parties should focus on how a municipal judge repeats every lie that is fed to him by his attorney, the Cherokee County District Attorney. The lie being that "excessive bond would be unconstitutional" in an arrest, booking and 'receiving' of a parolee caught with drugs and a gun. The fact is Cherokee County simply wanted to purloin Brandon Wayne Robertson's bond. So they avoided notifying Robertson's parole officers; a parole Robertson had been absconding for several months.

Cherokee County, TX pretends it never happened and never saw Brandon Robertson in their neck of the Piney Woods. Cherokee County wasn't interested in a parolee's travel permit status that would have barred him from legally traveling to their good little Christian community to peddle crystal meth to truckers and bored cops. Instead, they would rather lie through their teeth about the Judicial Process of parole revocation. Brandon Robertson was only buying himself time with the two Felony bonds he posted in Cherokee County on April 7, 2008. A drug addict parolee facing going back to prison would logically have made him more dangerous to the next DPS Trooper or sheriff deputy that cited him for absconding his parole conditions, according to Cherokee County's own actions.

As far as Brandon Robertson taking his life to avoid prosecution, had his parole supervision been in Cherokee County, Texas, he'd be back out on bail the very next day after blasting his way out of a speeding ticket. Hell, the District Attorney's office could split the guy's Life Insurance Policy and move into the deceased's house. Good riddance to Brandon Robertson and his ilk. The sun won't be shining where he's going. Unfortunately, his type of bad seed has become all too common in East Texas.

The media should blame Brandon Robertson first for being a dirty stinking crackheaded police officer, and that he went on to become a bonafide drug dealer. They should blame Cherokee County Texas secondly for keeping this drug addict on the streets to kill a peace officer with a wife and 5-month-old baby girl. Where was "Elmer Beckworth's Law" when it came to denying this violent repeat offender's bail? Where was Cherokee County's legal expert when it came to denying bond to a felon with a 20-Guage shotgun and SPEED in his system and snortin' it in all in his vehicle? And simply calling in the TDCJ authorities to incarcerate a crystal meth user on parole? Cherokee County Texas is both criminally and civilly negligent in giving Brandon Robertson a 'get out of jail for $15000 worth of drug money' card.

Sounds like Rocket Science to the crystal meth capital of East Texas.

Our condolences go out to Trooper James Scott Burns' widow and family. We hope that Mrs. James Burns and family file a successful Wrongful Death suit against Cherokee County Texas and prevail. God knows the law would be certainly on her side, regardless of a sympathetic US District Judge trying to keep a corrupt small town Racketeering Project going for decades to come. Don't forget to subpoena the DPS officers who arrested Brandon Robertson on April 6, 2008, Mrs. Burns. We are certain they would have a story to tell on how Cherokee County authorities conspired to deliberately drop the ball. The EDITOR would recommend one of the fine Federal Civil Rights attorneys practicing in the Northern East Texas Federal District who advertise on this blog.

1 in 30 children in Cherokee County Texas are investigated by Child Protective Services

...while local officials celebrate April’s “Child Abuse Prevention Month.”

Cherokee County TX:

According to an April 9, 2008 Cherokeean Herald article, Cherokee County Child Protective Services (CPS) investigated a staggering 433 child abuse allegations in the year 2007. Only 18 children were removed from their homes and placed in foster care. A small number compared to statewide statistics, however the 2000 US Census indicates that 25.8% of the 47,000 residents in Cherokee County Texas are under 18-years old.

25.8% X 47000 = 12126 minors
433 : 12126 = 1 : 28 ratio
or approx. 1 in 30

There are 15,700 households with children in Cherokee County TX also according to the 2000 US census.

This means over 1 in 500 households in the county have been visited by CPS.

This means over 3 % of the households in Cherokee County TX have had some type of alleged abuse.

Not a good number for any Cherokee County TX official pretending to be a "victim's rights" champion. The Cherokee County Criminal Docket can certainly attest that a tiny fraction of these cases actually saw the light of day. Meanwhile, a related article cites that Cherokee County officials responsible for the statistics are in fact observing a self imposed "Child Abuse Prevention Month" during the month of April. A celebration of sorts led by County Judge Chris Davis and attended by the District Attorney and County Attorney's offices.

Our invited State Representative and State Senator all gather on April 9th for a photo op to express their solidarity with the Cherokee County district attorney and county attorney offices to rally the county’s overblown abuse statistics. Forgetting about their other districts’ drug and child porn arrests, e.g. Rusk County, stinking corruption and local sex offenders tooling around the courthouse on probation given by Elmer Beckworth and associates. No moratorium needed to cleanse the region of rampant child porn and drug dealing by law enforcement; a ribbon cutting ceremony will rally voters back into a mental slumber.

Remember, they care so much about children that they believe probation is acceptable to every and all child molesters arrested and living within the county- well, those related to the right official.

The fact is the first, second and third cousins of Cherokee County’s “officials” have gotten away with sexual assault of minors for decades. Because the Cherokee County Sheriff Department ignores the reports and the current District and County Attorneys only prosecute non-relatives of Cherokee County’s “officials.” Cherokee County citizens do not need to be made aware of the child porn epidemic in its schools or the high incidence of incest occurring under their noses.

The folks are probably wondering why rapists are recruited to patrol the streets of Jacksonville, TX a la Larry Pugh. And the audacity of the Jacksonville police department to print that the JPD recruiting policies have changed for the better.

They are probably wondering how for decades a Rusk ISD drama teacher can take students to overnight and out-of-town Theater Camp, while simultaneously trading in child porno on the Internet. That is Rusk Texas high school teacher Harold "Bo" Scallon , who pleaded guilty to his child porn collection in federal court Tuesday April 9, 2008.

Most importantly, the taxpayers are probably wondering why Sex Offenders are walking around town on probation given to them by the District Attorney.

Cherokee County's District Attorney Elmer Beckworth has consistently given probation to child molesters whose victims were as young as 1-year-old baby girls, all the while the local Cherokeean Herald and Jacksonville Daily Progress have swept the incidents of incest and statutory rape under the proverbial carpet. What can the taxpayer expect when neither of the two local Cherokee County papers printed the fact that the US Postmaster Herbert Michael Dominguez in the Alto Texas Post Office was sentenced this year "for stealing over $27,000 in money and stamps" ?

The local CPS claims to have investigated over 400 abuse allegations last year alone, in a county with a little over 12000 minors. If that is the case, why doesn't the County Court at Law docket reflect it? It's not because the abuse wasn't reported, it is because the victims were ignored by Cherokee County officials as usual. Because these officials spend taxpayer money promoting themselves as victims by bleeding the county coffers and local businesses dry with frivolous Personal Injury lawsuits.

Cherokee County would rather solicit the hiring of an extra "mental health" deputy via ACCESS grant money, knowing it is MHMR's policy to have 2 deputies present during the transport of an unruly mental patient. How many mental health commitments and out-patient "shepherding" duties does a county of 47000 have each year to justify what a staff of deputies are already required by law to perform? They certainly aren't investigating child abuse.

400 out of 12000 children have possibly been abused while the Sheriff Department is going to hire another deputy to sit on his or her laurels and help the Jail Coordinator eavesdrop on inmates' payphone calls.

That means in 2007 over 3 % of Cherokee County's children may have been neglected, abused or worse. A statistic Cherokee County should be ashamed of. And apparently they are:

They all got together and had a big ol' ribbon cutting ceremony on the Rusk Texas courthouse steps in an attempt to 'Fool 'em All Over Again' for the month of April. If they know the truth makes them look bad, as in the preventable murder of Faye Bell Harris in 2003, then taxpayers can expect to see their officials in full regalia on the courthouse lawn, telling everyone "the world is actually flat." And pretending to care more about victimized and helpless children than protecting their collective government paychecks.

Read the Cherokee County TX court dockets for a comparison of actual CPS child abuse cases reported, and those Elmer Beckworth, et al threw in the courthouse dumpster. Next year they'll be smart enough not to let CPS report its local abuse statistics. Now that's Awareness to rally around.



[courtesy of the Rusk TX Cherokeean Herald 4-09-08]

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (TDFPS) is observing April as Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.
http://cherokeecountytexas.blogspot.com/

Cherokee County TX sues employers while enticing more business. Nacogdoches jailer sentenced for child porn. Smith County officials investigated.

Jacksonville, Texas:

Several national and internationally owned companies, such as Alliance Data Systems and Astro Air have divested their businesses from the county due to downsizing and corporate reconstruction. The following Personal Injury lawsuits were filed in the last 4 years against Jacksonville TX based Astro Air in Cherokee County’s 2^nd district court:

• Civil Docket; Case 2004030190; MORALES, EULALIA vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
  


• Civil Docket; Case 2004030218; LAWSON, CARROL vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
  


• Civil Docket; Case 2005030170; RESENDIZ, TERESA vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
  


• Civil Docket; Case 951000794; ROBERTS, ARTHUR vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
  


• Civil Docket; Case 96600493; MEADOR, CYNTHIA vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
  


• Civil Docket; Case 98200091; ABERNATHY, RICHARD vs ASTRO AIR, INC.
  


• Civil Docket; Case 98500399; KUYKENDALL, TANYA HIGHT vs BAILEY, PATRICK JAMES, ASTRO AIR, INC, et al.
  

Meanwhile, the wife of Jacksonville Texas Mayor Pro-Tem was indicted for stealing over $150,000 from the Rusk Texas city hall and the US Postmaster in Alto Texas was sentenced for stealing over $27,000 in postage, before paying it back. The latter receiving 1-year adjudicated probation in federal court, while the former has had her case postponed in hopes she too, can sell her recently acquired assets if in fact she is found or pleads guilty.

Nacogdoches Texas:

Nacogdoches correctional officer Michael Paul Kennedy was sentenced March 13, 2008 to 97 months federal prison for soliciting and distributing child pornography. Former jailer Michael Kennedy, 32 of the Nacogdoches Sheriff Department had been arrested last year at his home in Nacogdoches, Texas according the Texas Attorney General press release on that date. His arrest video and others can be viewed at the Texas Attorney General website.

Michael Kennedy, former Nacogdoches TX jailer

Smith County Constable Henry Jackson’s Tyler based private security firm, Fail Safe Security Agency, is under investigation by the Texas DPS. The DPS issued a search warrant on Constable Jackson’s home based upon Jackson and his firm's expired licenses required to operate a security business. The Tyler Paper reports that Constable Henry Jackson’s security business employed deputy constables who were paid on county time and wearing Smith County uniforms, while simultaneously working security. A special prosecutor was assigned to the case by the Smith County District Attorney's office.

The Texas Rangers have also been investigating Smith County Sheriff Deputies, according to the Tyler Paper for using jailhouse inmates to work on officers' personal property. Four (4) Smith County TX deputies facing felony charges for the misappropriations were fired from the low risk jail facility on Tuesday March 18, 2008. 12-year veteran deputy Lt. Gary Lile, Brandon Langston, Jeff Hudnall and Benjamin Hicks were terminated. The charges stem from inmates gathering scrap metal for recycling, rounding up stray livestock on rural roads and the sale of these proceeds not being reported. Instead the deputies pocketed the monies.

Amidst the investigation, on Thursday March 27, 2009 Lieutenant GARY LEE LILE, 57, took the coward’s way out and committed suicide at his Lindale TX home. The Smith County Justice of the Peace told the Tyler Paper that Lt. Lile had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest.

In neighboring Rusk County, Lieutenant Fred Dunlap committed suicide in the exact manner, under similar circumstances last year. The officer shot himself in the chest, even though Lt. Dunlap was not the focus of a Federal Civil Rights investigation. Chief Deputy Dusty Flanagan, aka Daniel Oscar Flanagan, age 37 of Henderson TX was sentenced to 2 years federal prison for the assault of a handcuffed suspect he and Lt. Johnny Leon Davidson, Jr. questioned in Flanagan’s office. Lt. Davidson admitted to writing a fraudulent police report of the beating. Flanagan was sentenced on Wednesday March 26, 2008 after his guilty plea in 2007 in Federal Court. Rusk County Sheriff Deputy Kenneth Calvin Martin also pleaded guilty during this time for possession of child pornography.

Quoted from Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith regarding the more recent Lt. Lile investigation,“They knew the rules, they knew the regulations and they knew the law. There’s no excuse for it.”

A stark contrast to southern neighbor Cherokee County whose misuse of the District Attorney funds and county equipment has been going on for decades. And those caught being relocated to other parts of the county and/or the malfeasance being not just ignored, but lauded by those at the county seat. Cherokee County bulldozers and employees working on private property, making improvements with taxpayer dollars, is an all too common sight during the dog days of summer. Ever see a county bridge on a private driveway 1500 feet from the Farm to Market Road? Or county trucks laying gravel leading up to a judge’s hunting camp? Or state witnesses being paid for by the insurance pay-out of a murder victim, as in the 1990 Cherokee County case: State vs. Terry Watkins.

Jacksonville Daily Progress August 23, 1990

http://cherokeecountytexas.blogspot.com/

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.

Rusk TX police officer rapes Rusk ISD student while Alto, TX Postmaster steals $27,000 from local Post Office. Rusk TX teacher indicted on child porn.

Rusk Texas: 
City of Rusk TX police officer, and former Cherokee County Sheriff Department jailer,  Christopher "Chris" Michael Hennessy was handed a 10 year probation sentence by Cherokee County TX District Attorney Elmer C. Beckworth, Jr. in 2004 after Hennessy sexually assaulted a female 15-year-old Rusk ISD student. Officer Hennessy absconded his Sex Offender Registration after later being charged with distribution of crystal meth and unauthorized use of a motor, according to a February 28, 2008 article in the Jacksonville Daily Progress. Rusk TX officer Chris Hennessy was also under investigation by the ATF for possession of explosives.

Officer Christopher Michael Hennessy was apprehended in Houston, TX by the US Marshals Service on Wednesday February 27, 2008. Hennessy had been working in the Houston area under an assumed name.

Cherokee County Texas Criminal Docket; Case 16121:
Indecency/Sexual Assault of Child-Felony THE STATE OF TEXAS vs HENNESSY, CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL Filed 05/23/2005 - Disposition: 11/17/2005 Deferred adjudication 2nd District Court, District Clerk, Cherokee County TX. And Criminal Docket Case 16681; Case 16682 in the 2nd District Court, Cherokee County, TX.

Obviously Hennessy's deferred adjudication wasn't good enough for the rogue officer; deferred adjudication is a plea bargain agreement, as it is defined, that is not an formal guilty plea and is NOT a conviction. The charge remains on the defendant's record, however all licensing, bonding and law enforcement, i.e. political affiliations remain untarnished if probation is served (or reduced by a sympathetic district judge).

Christopher Hennessy (Courtesy DPS)

Hennessy refused his Sex Offender Registration in Cherokee County, TX and violated his slap-on-the-wrist probation. The Cherokee County district judge would have terminated his probation; however Hennessy would have to first register as a Sex Offender. Officer Hennessy was 24 in 2004. Elmer Beckworth believed Officer's Hennessy's reputation was more valuable than the raped 15-year-old Rusk Jr. High student by offering DEFERRED ADJUDICATION probation. Of course, the Cherokee County District Attorney is not held accountable in the local media for any of the COLLATERAL CONSEQUENCES of Chris Hennessy's plea bargain; allowing Hennessy to continue the crystal meth trafficking into Beckworth's hometown, possible bomb making and who knows what else before Officer Hennessy was nabbed by the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force.  

Alto Texas: US Postmaster Herbert Michael Dominguez located in the tiny Alto, TX post office stole $27,000 worth of postage stamps and federal money orders, converting them into his own personal use. Similarly Dominguez's indictment and crime was not reported by any Cherokee County Texas newspaper. It took the Tyler Texas paper to report the local indictment of Postmaster Dominquez in its February 27, 2008 issue. Dominguez had been being paying most of the stolen money back in restitution. U.S. Federal District Judge Michael Schneider in Tyler TX gave the thieving Postal Service agent 1 year adjudicated probation.



What do these cases have in common? A Rusk TX police officer who molested a Jr. High girl and an unsupervised Postmaster in Alto TX both received deferred adjudicated probation for their crimes, both State and Federal. Both get to keep their TCLEOSE licenses and government pensions. Probation given in order to keep the sordid mess under wraps. Even after raping the coffers and thus taxpayers of their most precious commodity: their children and their privacy.

 Criminal activity within Cherokee County's post offices has been documented for years. In August 1997, DPS officer Joe Don Abernathy was lucky enough to have DWI and unlawful discharge of a weapon charges dismissed after an employee in the Rusk Texas post office smashed his vial of blood on it way to the Garland, TX DPS lab for alcohol tests.


 Aug. 21, 1997 Cherokeean Herald p.1

  
Aug. 21, 1997 Cherokeean Herald p. 10A

A local Rusk TX woman named Linda Lanier had filed a complaint against Trooper Joe Don Abernathy in Feb. 1997 after Abernathy had chased the Lanier family down the back roads of Hwy. 84 in the middle of the night. The complaint stated the off duty trooper had shot at the Lanier family vehicle, on their way back from Boosier City, LA. The Rusk PD arrested Abernathy on U.S. 69 and found rifles, a shotgun and beer cans in Abernathy's pickup. Abernathy requested a blood sample be drawn in lieu of a breathalyzer, and the sample was literally dropped off in the mail. The test tube containing the DUI arrest evidence was destroyed by the Rusk TX Postal Service.

A common tactic observed with the roles have been reversed and a DPS officer cites a Cherokee County deputy for DUI. And of course the Cherokee County TX District Attorney's office never took Abernathy's "deadly conduct" case in front of a grand jury. Trooper Joe Don Abernathy accepted Cherokee County's County Attorney's offer of reckless driving as was placed on minimal adjudicated probation. The horror the Lanier family endured the night of Feb. 9, 1997 has been long forgotten. Trooper Joe Abernathy presently works as a Senior Recruiter for the DPS office in Tyler, TX. In 2012, Trooper Joe Don Abernathy crashed his patrol car after a night of heavy drinking according to the Tyler Paper. The DPS pulled a blood draw showing over an alcohol level of 0.16 which is twice the legal limit. (Courtesy Tyler Paper).

Trooper who said he swerved to avoid a deer arrested for DWI

BY KENNETH DEAN

A former Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, who told his coworkers he wrecked his patrol car earlier this month while trying to avoid a deer, has been arrested for driving while intoxicated and resigned his position as a result of the investigation into the accident. Joe Don Abernathy, 61, turned himself into authorities Monday and posted a $1,000 bond on the misdemeanor charge, according to judicial records.

Abernathy, who reportedly was on his way to work the morning of the accident, wrecked the 2008 Ford Crown Victoria he was assigned about 7:20 a.m. Nov. 5 on County Road 2120, about a half-mile west of County Road 262. According to a DPS accident report, Abernathy said he was driving when a deer ran out in front of him, and he took evasive action to avoid hitting the animal. The Tyler Morning Telegraph asked for video of the deer crossing the road the morning of the accident but was told the DPS video system does not record until the overhead emergency lights have been activated.

The DPS report by Investigator David Anthony shows Abernathy swerved to the right, went off the road, across into oncoming traffic and then back off the right side of the roadway where he struck several trees. According to the arrest affidavit in the case, Abernathy had a strong odor of alcohol on his person. However, because he was injured, Abernathy was taken to Mother Frances Hospital for treatment, where doctors also took his blood for testing. The DPS crash report indicates Abernathy's blood alcohol level was 0.16, which is twice the legal limit.

Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said he was notified early in the investigation and told by troopers on the scene that they would be having Abernathy's blood drawn for testing. “DPS has been very cooperative from the onset of the investigation, and they have said they will give my office any and all records with Abernathy. It's very unfortunate that something like this can stain the reputation of all of these troopers, but he will be treated like everyone else,” he said. Bingham said he is looking at a possible earlier incident involving Abernathy where a blood vial had been destroyed. “There was an earlier case involving Abernathy and a blood vial being destroyed somehow, but that was in another county outside Smith County and had nothing to do with the DPS. It was an entirely different agency,” he said.

Tom Vinger, DPS media representative in Austin, said Monday that Abernathy had tendered his resignation the day after the accident earlier this month. Vinger confirmed that Abernathy was en route to work when the accident occurred. Vinger would not say what Abernathy's position at the Tyler DPS was before the accident or whether he was a patrol trooper or assigned to a desk.

Bingham said troopers worked Abernathy's case like a felony case instead of a misdemeanor. “They did a full traffic reconstruction with their crew, which is usually only for fatalities and felony cases, so DPS went above what they usually do for a misdemeanor. He will be treated like anyone else in this case, because there is no special treatment,” he said.

 DPS Trooper Joe Don Abernathy  

Rusk, TX: The personal use of public works by those assigned to protect and serve Cherokee County Texas has been covered up for decades. In a 1995 Cherokeean Herald article, Cherokee County Sheriff James Campbell denied his deputies partake in monitoring and recording inmates' jailhouse pay phone calls. Complete with an incredulous and concocted story on fictitious inmates crank calling witnesses from their cellblocks.

June 1, 1995 Cherokeean Herald p.1

Houston Chronicle article on jailhouse eavesdropping:

Jan. 5, 2002 Houston Chronicle article from the AP highlights the State's TDCJ policy of listening in and recording all jail inmates' conversations, as a required duty performed by all Texas penal systems -and those like Sheriff James Campbell who are charged with doing so. In 1998 the TDCJ policy altered to allow privacy between inmates' phone calls and their attorney-client privileges. That policy has certainly been ignored by the Cherokee County Sheriff Department and District Attorney's office.  Cherokee County  also tells its citizens the Sheriff Department does not record its DETCOG established 911 calls either.

 

 Jan. 5, 2002 Houston Chronicle p.39A

The June 5, 1995 Cherokeean article citing the "telephone harassment" of bored Cherokee County inmates and how the poor Sheriff can't "listen in" and put a stop to it - why that is a sharp contrast to the 12th Court of Appeals affirmation of one inmate's recent threatening phone call to his wife. The case Kevin Wade Conner v. The State of Texas--Appeal from County Court at Law of Cherokee County was heard in Tyler on February 29, 2008 based upon the  'Dial H for Harassment'  scenario that actually took place.  

Kevin Conner was arrested in 2006 for public intoxication and during his one phone call to his wife, threatened to beat her up. Conner was subsequently charged with telephone harassment and the audio tape recorded phone conversation admitted into evidence at his trial, Cherokee County Court at Law (trial court case # 45,593). Kevin Conner's attorney filed an appeal in Tyler, refer to Case # 12-06-00311-CR, filed on 8/26/2006 in the 12th Court of Appeals, challenging the legality of tape recording the plaintiff's phone call and admitting it into evidence.  The opinion states:

"The erroneous admission of the recording in question is nonconstitutional error. See King, 953 S.W.2d at 271. "Nonconstitutional" error that does not affect the substantial rights of the defendant must be disregarded. TEX. R. APP. P. 44.2(b). Such an error does not warrant reversal unless it had a substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury’s verdict. See King, 953 S.W.2d at 271."

Note the Justices' made up word "Non-constitutional" that applies to Cherokee County phone tapping.

The 12th Court of Appeals doesn't get into the messy legality question as to whether it is legal or unconstitutional (nonconstitutional error / admission of egregious evidence, i.e. illegally gained evidence) to record jailhouse phone conversations. The deputy testified he "overheard" the threats that were decided not to be just "hearsay."  And the Texas penal system allows jails to monitor the inmate accessible pay phones. That was good enough to admit the audio recording into evidence and convict Kevin Conner with "telephone harassment" based on the testimony of an eavesdropping deputy.

Even though Sheriff James Campbell told the local newspapers in 1995 that the "law prohibits my deputies to listen in on" jailhouse phone calls. The Appellate Court says in 2008 recording and monitoring the Cherokee County Sheriff Department's phone calls are "pursuant to the jail’s standard policy, the call was recorded without notice to either Appellant [Kevin Conner] or Conner [his wife]."

 

June 1, 1995 Cherokeean Herald p.1

Wiretaps in the Liberty County TX courthouse, circa 2001:

Similarly, in 2001 Liberty County Texas Constable Craig Houghton  and Liberty Courthouse maintenance chief Thomas Neal Williford pleaded guilty to illegally wiretapping the courthouse telephones. County Commissioner Pct. 4  Toby Wilburn allegedly provided recording devices for Williford, et al to place on the phone lines of political adversaries within the courthouse.

Constable Craig Houghton and Thomas Williford both were sent to 3 months in prison, and Commissioner Wilburn was acquitted in Nov. 2001 on wiretapping. Commissioner Wilburn claimed Constable Houghton had obtained a warrant from the court; the local jury bought the explanation of providing the phone surveillance equipment. Despite the fact that only the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers and the FBI are the only entities that can legally monitor phone lines.

Prisons and jails are required to monitor inmates' calls and terminate the surveillance during conversations with their attorneys. Constable Houghton and Thomas Williford were sentenced to 3 months federal prison and 2 years probation according to the Houston Chronicle. Both claimed the illegal phone taps were installed to "rid the courthouse of theft and corruption."  

Rusk Texas:

Longtime Rusk Texas ISD drama teacher Harold Earl “Bo” Scallon was indicted by a Federal grand jury in Tyler on Tuesday March 4, 2008 for possession and distribution of child pornography. The FBI raided the home of Harold Scallon in Jacksonville in July 2007 on a federal warrant based on a tip and ongoing investigation by the Longview TX police department. Scallon’s computer was seized, and alleged to contain illegal images of children engaged in sex. The Rusk Texas drama coach faces 20 years federal prison and fines for each count of distribution of child porn.

 
Rusk Texas teacher H.E. "Bo" Scallon

According to a March 5, 2008 Tyler Paper article, federal prosecutors and the Rusk ISD superintendent's office refused to acknowledge that Harold "Bo" Scallon was employed in the drama department up until the time he was indicted in federal court for possession and distribution of child pornography. Local newspaper deliberately refer to the theater teacher as "former" and "EX-teacher" even though Harold Scallon never formerly retired from the Rusk Texas school district. Conflicting dates of the alleged cyber crime are being reported. 2007 Rusk ISD Valedictorian Kinsey Gresham acknowledged Mr. Scallon's presence in his students' and fellow faculty members'  lives during her June 2007 graduation speech. "Bo" Scallon had worked over 30 years for the Rusk Texas Independent School District. He also monitored the Rusk Youth Center Swimming Pool with Sheriff James Campbell and others.

 

In March 2007 another Rusk Texas and former Jacksonville ISD teacher, Social Studies' Brian Edward Basse, was indicted for indecency with a minor, i.e. one of his 16-year old students. (KLTV) Basse was sentenced to 3 years in prison for indecency with a child and the illegal student/teacher relationship (Daily Progress). He is a lifetime registered sex offender.

 
Brian Basse, courtsey DPS

Out of county company representatives and those seeking open-records in the Cherokee County Texas courthouse may have experienced the frequent violation of the Texas Public Information Act. That is those requesting court records having to sign waivers or being asked for their own personal information before the court employee provides the requested documents. An article in the Dec. 30, 2002 Houston Chronicle titled "East Texas public data often elusive" shows East Texas law agencies were the least helpful and most confrontational when it came to providing citizens access to open records.

County governments out of a 14 county survey conducted over a 4 month period in 2002, where shown to be cooperative in complying with the State's open records laws. However, East Texas sheriff or police departments "resisted producing records 68% of the time" and complied with the State's timeline for requests only 38% of the time. One researcher from the journalism department of UT Tyler was told she had to "earn the right to see documents see requested." This is, unfortunately, the majority mindset of East Texan law enforcement. The Public Information Act states that any and all information regarding an arrest record and the name of the complainant are to be made available to the inquiring public. Texas law enforcement records are not exempt from public disclosure. Nor are property records at the Cherokee County courthouse.




Companies contemplating setting up operations in greater East Texas should consider the light sentencing for sexual assault of a minor by police officers, embezzlement of postal services and city government funds, road rage by a repeat drunken veteran DPS officer and the bonafide illegal wiretapping of constables and commissioners. The articles may be hidden in the news archives and the back of the minds of the residents; however they are the forefront of daily operations in Counties steeped in corruption.

The disparate sentencing of minorities versus law enforcement caught red-handed and judgments against national companies should be thoroughly investigated by any business testing the job market in Cherokee County Texas. Company business calls will be intercepted, company mail rifled through by post office employees, their profits stolen via lawsuits and most importantly their children will be at risk from Cherokee County's Rogues Gallery of child molesters enjoying their commuted probation.

As an April 29, 2007 Houston Chronicle article published by the Seattle Post titled "Civil Rights investigations decline as focus for FBI" states: for federal agencies keeping watch over rogue police officers, there has been in the last 5 years a 2/3rds drop in investigations of abusive police officers and hate crime purveyors. "You're going to have officers getting away with, in some cases, literally murder." Especially in East Texas where victims are portrayed as "nutcases" and/or transient drug addicts by the local media. And their stories buried with their remains in a nearby National Forest.

District Attorney gives probation to Rusk, TX infant molester; Jacksonville companies leave county’s slip-and-fall Free For All

plea-bargain (v.) :
To make an agreement in which a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge and the prosecutor in return drops more serious charges.

plea-bargain "Cherokee County Texas style" (n.) :
A deal struck with a court-appointed defense attorney in which a defendant pleads guilty to a more serious charge and the prosecutor offers adjudicated probation.

Rusk, TX:
In 2006 the Cherokee County District Attorney's office offered a plea bargain deal of probation to a Rusk, TX resident after his arrest for molesting a 1-year-old baby girl.
Kenneth Dexter Folmar, age 45, accepted 96 months deferred probation in 2006 for the Felony sexual assault of the female infant. Refer to Cherokee County, TX Criminal Docket case 16209 (2006) State v. Kenneth Dexter Folmar, 2nd Judicial District.

Folmar continues his employment in neighboring Anderson County. The Cherokeean Herald ran the picture of the Rusk, TX registered sex offender Kenneth Folmar in their August 2007 local sex offender update. However, because Kenneth Folmar is related to too many people operating the Rusk, TX courthouse, the actual molestation was never reported by the local media. And of course Elmer Beckworth's plea offer of 8 years probation was not reported either.

The question is why are convicted child molesters in Cherokee County, whose victims are younger than 6 years-old, being put on probation? And their crimes not reported?

Because it is more efficacious for the Cherokee County District Attorney's office and local media to protect the extended family members of the offender from embarrassment than it is to protect the community. Perpetuating the psychotic paranoid small town mentality by covering up the incest.

There are 79 registered sex offenders residing in Cherokee County, Texas according to a 8/15/07 Cherokeean Herald posting. In a 1/24/07 Cherokeean Herald article, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department released the names of the registered sex offenders living in the county.

As a 'public service,' local Cherokee County newspapers refuse to print the ages of the victims under 16 years-old. Nor the fact that EVERY offender on the local offenders list who was arrested by the Cherokee County Sheriff Department were on superficial probation and their 2nd degree Felony jail sentences suspended by District Attorney Elmer Beckworth- putting the county at risk.

The Cherokeean Herald's policy is not to print the ages of local victms in cases incest, to keep their identities hidden from ostracism and ridicule. In 2003, the Lufkin Daily News was smart enough to print the names and addresses of all registered sexual offenders in the area, including the ages of victims, charges and date of judgment.

The Sheriff Department pretends to be doing the community a service by notifying the public (on a slow news day) of the identity of local child molesters. However, the offer of probation for the violent rape of a small child tells the true story of the criminal justice system operating in Cherokee County Texas. Especially when defendants are related to members of law enforcement, attorneys and clerks employed at the Rusk, Texas courthouse. They want to keep the high incident of East Texas incest under the radar because of their "vested interest in their little communities." So the district attorney gives probation to Kenneth Folmar of Rusk, Texas for sexual assault of a 12 month old. Molesting a defenseless infant must not be that big of a deal for Cherokee County's District Attorney.

Kenneth Dexter Folmar

Similary, Rusk Texas native, dairy hand and registered child molester James Christopher Schlater, age 51, was given deferred adjudication in 2007 after violating a local 6-year-old girl back in 2004. Refer to State v. James Christopher Schlater (2006) Cherokee County, Texas Criminal Docket Case No. 16630.

James Schlater had originally been charged with Felony sexual assault child, according to Cherokee County, Texas Criminal Docket Case No. 15724, State v. James Christopher Schlater (2007). The incident was never reported and of course his picture is not available because Cherokee County has not verified his current sex offense registration.

James Earl Holt, age 52, Jacksonville Texas given 6 years probation in 2007 for the 2003 assault of a 14 year-old girl. Also never reported.
No picture available.

Donald Wayne Thurmon, age 40 from Jacksonville Texas given 10 years probation in 2007 by District Attorney Elmer Beckworth for possessing and distributing child pornography. No need to call the feds in on this one; why waste their time even though it is a federal offense?

Donald Thurman

Manuel Enrique Huerta, age 21, given 10 years probation in 2007 for sexual assault of a 13 year-old Jacksonville Texas girl.
No picture available.

Cody Allen Whiteley, age 22 of Jacksonville, arrested in Cherokee County in 2006 and pled 7 years probation for the sexual assault of a 13 year-old girl.


Cody Whiteley

Bobby Ray Vines, Jr. age 41 from Jacksonville Texas. Given only 4 years probation for the sexual assault of an 11 year-old female in 2001.

Bobby Vines, Jr.

Ollie Ray Grogan, 65 year-old Rusk Texas native given 10 years probation for 2 counts of molestation of a 5 year-old and an 8 year-old.

Ollie Ray Grogan

Dale Joseph Tylich 65 year-old Rusk Texas equestrian given 6 months probation by Cherokee County for sexual contact with a child. 6 Months because he related to just about everybody in town.

Dale J. Tylich

Marin Otis Pitts, age 54, Troup Texas. Arrested by Cherokee County Texas authorities in 1991 and given 10 years probation for 2 counts of sexual assault on a 7 year-old girl.

Martin Pitts

Chenney LaVaughn Carter, age 43 in Troup, Texas. Arrested in 2006 for aggravated sexual assault of a child. The victim was a 15 year-old girl. Elmer Beckworth's office offered Carter 10 YRS DEFERRED ADJUDICATION PROBATION, despite Chenney Carter's local and Smith County priors.

Cheney L. Carter

Joyal Lee Lackey, age 63 Jacksonville Texas, given 10 years probation in 2005 for Indecency and Sexual Assault of a 13 year-old girl.


Joyal "Muggs" Lackey


Robert Michael Lane, age 36, Jacksonville Texas; offered 10 years probation in 1993 for the sexual assault of a 10 year-old girl. Lane was sent to Bootcamp for 90 days according to the DPS registry and the Cherokee County Court Docket records, Case 11818 State v. Robert M. Lane; Felony-Indecency/Sexual Assault of child-Filed 02/11/1992 - Disposition: 04/16/1993 Conviction-guilty plea or nolo cont-no jury, in the 2nd District Court, Cherokee County TX.

Robert Lane

Guadalupe Lora Vera Lara, age 56, given a paltry 5 years probation in 1996 for having sexual contact with 2 Jacksonville Texas girls, one 11 years-old, the other 13 years-old. No picture available.

Patrick Brian Norsworthy age 45, from Jacksonville Texas. Arrested in 1994 for Indecency with an 8 year-old girl. Given 10 years probation in 1999.

Patrick Norsworthy

Kevin Wayne Patton local businessman, age 40 from Jacksonville, Texas. Given 10 years probation for Indecency with a 14 year-old girl. No picture available.

Robby Lee Buffalo , age 35 Jacksonville, Texas was arrested in 1995 by Cherokee County and a 10 year probation deal accepted in 1999 for sexual assault of a local 11 year-old female.

Robby Buffalo

Donnie Wayne Crippen , age 39 Rusk, Texas. Arrested in Cherokee County in 2006 and given 5 years unadjudicated probation by Elmer Beckworth's office for the sexual assault of a 16 year-old female.

Donnie Crippen

Jose Ramon Galan, age 53 Jacksonville, Texas given 10 years probation in 1998 by Cherokee County after molesting a 9 year-old girl.

Jose Galan

Nicholas "Nicky" Noel Harwell, age 33 Jacksonville, Texas, given 10 years probation in 2003 by Cherokee County Texas prosecutors for 2 counts of sexual assault on a 12 year-old girl.

"Nicky" Harwell

Kevin Lyn Hawes, age 45 from Jacksonville, Texas. Arrested in 1999 by Cherokee County authorities for sexual assault on a 15 year-old girl. Hawes was offered 10 years probation.

Kevin Hawes

William Lee Hershiser, age 51 Jacksonville, Texas resident given 10 years probation for sexual assault on a local 15 year-old female.

William Hershier

This only scratches the surface of the convicted sex offenders (still residing in-county) arrested by and registered with the Cherokee County Sheriff Department. These are the sex predators registered with the State and given probation as 'punishment' by District Attorney Elmer Beckworth and his predecessors. Plea offers comparable to a slap on the wrist. What about the offenses passed on by the Sheriff Department and Beckworth's office? The ones the public will never know about?

Even if some of these men are innocent, the District Attorney's office prosecuted them under the penal code which is crystal clear on the punishment assessment for Indecency with a Minor.

INDECENCY OR SEXUAL ASSAULT OF A CHILD: An offense under Texas Penal Code Sections 22.011 (Sexual Assault) or 22.021 (Aggravated Sexual Assault) where the victim is a child (younger than 17 years), and an offense under 21.11 (Indecency with a Child).

§ 12.33. SECOND DEGREE FELONY PUNISHMENT. (a) An individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the second degree shall be punished by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 20 years or less than 2 years. (b) In addition to imprisonment, an individual adjudged guilty of a felony of the second degree may be punished by a fine not to exceed $10,000.

That is why there are no reports of the child molesters' probation in the local Cherokee County papers. Only the fact there are registered sex offenders living in the county. Of course the typical excuse of the Cherokee County District Attorney's office et al is that the law would not allow jail time for a 2nd degree Felony. If you're stupid enough to believe it, print it and repeat it. The Texas Penal Code and Constitution do not tie the hands of state prosecutors, only those of the patently corrupt.

The remainder of current registered sex offenders given probation without jail time in Cherokee County Texas:

1. Roy Joe Bailey, age 65, Wells TX: arrested in 2007; 10 yrs. probation/ 12 year-old female victim.


2. Richard Dean Davis, age 50, Rusk TX: arrested in 1996; 10 yrs. probation/14 year-old female victim.


3. J.E. Monroe Martin, age 85, Rusk TX: arrested in 1997; 3 yrs. probation/ 12 year-old female victim.


4. Dale Joseph Tylich, age 53, Rusk TX: arrested in 1996; 6 mos. probation/ female victim unknown age.


5. Tommy Junior Allen, age 51, Jacksonville TX: arrested in 1991; 10 yrs. probation/ 11 year-old female.


6. James Travis Barker, age 25, Jacksonville TX: arrested in 1999; 24 mos. city jail/ 6 year-old female.


7. Roger Hunter, age 75, Jacksonville TX: arrested in 1997; 10 yrs. probation/ 14 year-old female.


8. James L Wells, age 55 , Jacksonville TX: arrested in 1998; 8 yrs. probation/ 2 counts sexual assault on a 5 year-old and a 6 year-old.


9. Gary Michael Morrison, age 51, Alto TX: arrested 1991; 10 yrs. probation/ sexual assault of 12 year-old female.


10. Wesley Boyd Mohr, age 63, Bullard TX: arrested by Cherokee Co. in 1997; 10 yrs. probation for sexual assault of 10 year-old girl.

The summary of every one of these registered sexual offenses is readily available on the Texas DPS Sex Offender Registry website and Cherokee County Texas court docket. However, not one of these rapes, molestations or incidents of child pornography has been NOR ever will be reported by the Cherokee County newspapers. Unless the perpetrator was born out of town. Then they'll throw the book at him.

This blog posting covers only a partial list of the registered sex offenders that actually reside in Cherokee County, TX and on probation for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child; there is no known count of those child molesters given probation and registered/relocated in other states or counties. Regardless, Elmer Beckworth's and the Cherokee County District Attorney office's pattern of lenient plea bargains going back decades to resident child molesters related to members of the local 'establishment' is crystal clear. They are sheltered and not reported.

A far cry from the more recent sentencing of out-of-towner Gordon Neal Mathis. The former US Army reservist pled guilty in January 2008 to 6 counts of sexual assault of a 12-year-old Rusk, TX girl and on Monday, February 11, 2008 was sentenced to 40 years State time. Mathis had been convicted in federal court and was beginning his 8 years in federal prison for child porn possession. The 2/17/08 Tyler Paper article gives the impression that former the Army reservist Gordon Mathis was "prosecuted" by an Assistant Cherokee County District Attorney, instead of the fact Mathis threw himself at mercy of the district court, claiming post traumatic stress syndrome. And since his offenses were widely reported by the Tyler Paper, the district court got a little busy and decided Adult Probation wasn't appropriate for Mathis' sex crimes. And the Cherokeean Herald quickly dropped their policy of not printing the age of the victim. Gordon Neal Mathis was sentenced on 6 counts of molesting the child for over a two year span.

View the remainder of Cherokee County's bonafide child molesters living in the area on the Texas DPS Sex Offender Registry located at: https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/Sor/index.aspx

Do a comparison of sex offenders convicted in other counties by prosecutors following the intent of the law. They put child molesters in prison even for statutory rape.



Athens, Texas: Athens Fire Chief Dan Barnes and Athens Fire Marshall Waylen Padgett were recently placed on admistrative leave and Chief Barnes resigned Monday January 28, 2008 amid an investigation led by the Assistant Fire Chief. The Athens Texas city council has been hush hush regarding the internal affairs review of alleged "allegations."

Longview, Texas: Gregg County Justice of the Peace clerk D. Donna Wallace pled guilty on Wednesday February 13, 2008 to government records tampering. Wallace used an alias to work at the JP office and continue to draw Social Security disability benefits.

Troup, Texas: Dale Lowry and wife Brenda Lowry of Troup, TX were indicted in a Tyler Texas federal grand jury during the first week of February 2008 for allegedly stealing over $28,000 of Social Security disability benefits. The couple had claimed a child as a dependent, even though the child was no longer living with them.

Gregg County, Texas: Sheriff candidate Billy Ray White was sentenced to 6 months deferred probation for falsifying the employment record of one of his employees. White operated a security service; the security guard did not have a firearm license when White hired him.

Jacksonville, Texas: The Jacksonville, TX police department convinced itself from an in-house generated report that racial profiling by its officers was completely imaginary. On Tuesday February 12, 2008, the mayor read the results to the city council that the JPD had ZERO complaints filed regarding discriminating traffic stops and ZERO incidents of racial disparity. Probably because people of ethnic backgrounds and skin coloring are too afraid to drive to the grocery store at night, by fear of being framed, raped or worse.

The city of Jacksonville, Texas is the largest economic center in the county and it is still reeling from the civil suit settlements resulting in the Jacksonville police department starting a race riot at the 2004 Tomato Bowl homecoming game. And for each rape complaint against its decorated patrolman Larry Pugh, sentenced to 17 years in federal prison. When a Cherokee County woman would come forward with an allegation of Pugh raping her, the benign police officer and family man got accommodations by the Jacksonville police department. Until he was caught dragging a complainant into a van by her neck. And despite Officer Pugh facing federal indictment, the County Attorney tried Larry Hinton of Jacksonville, for interfering with Officer Pugh's racial profiling during the 2004 Tomato Bowl riot. But that's "nonexistent."

Jacksonville, Texas: Not only does the Cherokee County Criminal Docket give a peek into the machinations of the district court, the Civil Docket shows the ongoing get rich schemes of relatives planted on Bodily Injury cases. Large companies from out of region foolish enough to set up shop for the cheap local labor are the target of 'slip-and-fall' and other concocted lawsuits.

Two major employers in Jacksonville, Texas, Astro Air- a heating and cooling coil manufacturing plant and Alliance Data- a support tech call center, will be closing their doors permanently in 2008. These firms' relocations will be putting hundreds of locals out of jobs. A sad series of inevitable events for the already destitute county. However, this is probably the first of many wise corporate decisions to vacate the county known for the lack of competitive bidding when it comes to issuing government contracts. And its newspapers not advertising a prescribe method of identifying qualified bidders. The contracts underhandedly going to relatives, even those good ol’ boys with offenses (like those listed above) involving moral turpitude who would otherwise be ineligible to work under any state, county or city job.

For example, city School Board Trustees awarding school renovation projects to their cousin’s construction company. And Billy Bob’s Construction allowing registered sex offenders on the school property to work during class time.

Or instances of county equipment being used as personal property, at the taxpayer’s expense to dig catfish ponds, pave private roads and driveways; including the use of probationers and government employees to work “outside the fence” on private land.

The locals know it’s been going on for decades, but these duped companies’ Board of Directors contemplating doing business in Cherokee County don’t find out until it is too late. The Cherokee County civil docket can attest to the exorbitant amount of lawsuits these remaining companies are facing, and the excessive payouts they are going to pay by summary judgment. There is no such thing as an unbiased juror in a town that small. And they see the flashing dollar signs when a big company makes the mistake of trying to set up an office there. What better way to get a little extra spending money than extorting a company via a bogus lawsuit, with a biased Cherokee County jury chosen before the case is even heard?

For board members of these departing companies, there is no plausible way to estimate the pecuniary damages to the local Cherokee County economy this type of collusion causes. There is no way to compete and/or get a break when the court system is used as a means to wring out their bottom dollar. Certainly these businesses have gotten sick of the Personal Injury suits filed on them; the same cases that backlog the Civil Docket.

Moreover, these corporations’ insurance premiums are bound to have skyrocketed after being targeted by the local ‘slip-and-fall’ con artists. Of course, a sympathetic civil jury related to the victim is readily available for the milking of their profit shares. Cheap labor or not, it is apparently smarter for IT companies and their subsidiaries to avoid the distrustful small town job market. Manufacturing plants owe it to their shareholders to do business where their profit earnings don't line the pockets of East Texas trial lawyers.

Even Cherokee County’s versions of ‘professionals’ are waiting in line to file a claim against these industries. These companies are only attempting to branch into the rural market. However, once the firms set up shop within the county, they can expect to be lambasted with frivolous lawsuits. And they can expect to pay through the nose because everybody wants a piece of the pie. Then these companies venture elsewhere and leave the honest hard working Cherokee County Texas citizen unemployed, bringing the county's economy back to the pre-Reconstruction era. According to the 2000 US Census, Cherokee County Texas has a median income 30% lower than the national average.

The fact is the only economic development Cherokee County Texas has to offer the region is its apparent contribution to the illegal drug trade and prison population. The worst corporate decision a CEO can make is setting an office up in a county whose local government officials have reputations of collusion and conflicts of interests.