Here's the crying piece of shit.
http://sanangelolive.com/news/crime/2015-08-25/da-faces-tough-decision-child-sex-case
A 29-year-old San Angelo man accused of sexually assaulting a toddler was sentenced to 10 years deferred adjudication probation on Tuesday morning, following a plea deal with the state. Thomas Boden was indicted in April this year on one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child sexual contact. His victim, the indictment alleged, was under 6 years old.
At Tuesday's plea hearing, Assistant District Attorney Jason Ferguson offered a deal that would drop both charges in the indictment in exchange for a guilty plea on another first-degree felony, injury to a child with serious bodily injury. The decision wasn't easy, he said, but was ultimately made out of concern for the consequences and possible outcome of going to trial. “In this case, we were dealing with a child who was 2 years old at the time of the offense, no adult witnesses, but serious injuries," Ferguson said in an email. "When we were looking at our options, my primary concern was for the best interest of the child, including considering what going through the rigors of trial preparation and testimony in front of a jury would be like for a toddler. In addition, I had to consider the very real possibility that if the child was unable to testify, the defendant would simply go home with no consequences."
"One thing that was clear is that this child was injured," Ferguson continued. "While not ideal, this plea allowed us to secure an admission of guilt from the defendant, keep him from contacting with victim or her family, remove any chance of a not guilty, and allowed us to keep an extremely young child from having to tell her story to a group of strangers and be subject to cross examination from a skilled defense attorney."
Th original complaint filed with the case alleged that Boden had been drinking on Jan. 1 when he got into an argument with a woman and the police were called. While the police were dealing with Boden, the woman changed the girl's diaper, where she discovered a large amount of blood. A sexual assault nurse examiner evaluated the injuries, and doctors discovered a laceration “consistent with a recent penetrative trauma...” that they deemed was “…not an accidental injury or one the child would have caused to herself,” the complaint states.
"It was a very difficult decision," Ferguson said. John Young, speaking on behalf of his client, echoed the same sentiment. "It was a difficult decision for Tom to accept a plea offer in the case; but under the circumstances, we came to the conclusion that it would be in his best interest to accept the agreement," Young said. Injury to a child is a "3G" offense, Ferguson explained, and has a punishment range of up to 99 years incarceration. "...if the Defendant is unable to complete his probation, he faces up to 99 years in prison with the harsher parole rules of 3g offenses,” Ferguson said.
Update: Friday, Aug. 28, 12 p.m. Amidst a social media frenzy surrounding the case, prosecuting attorney Jason Ferguson added further clarification on the reasoning behind the decision he made and explained some of the legal aspects of trying a case like the one of Thomas Boden.
"In order for a child to be allowed to testify at a trial in Texas, the Judge must be convinced that the child is able to (1) intelligently observe the events, (2) accurately remember the events, (3) adequately tell the jury about the events, and (4) understand the moral obligation of telling the truth. The only witnesses to this offense were both toddlers – one was 2 and one was 4. The possibility of one or both of these children being unable to testify was extremely high, if not a certainty. If that were to happen, we faced the very real possibility that the Defendant would be found not guilty and simply go home with no consequences. That was something we could not risk. I have worked hard with law enforcement to keep our community safe from violent criminals, prosecuting defendants in trials for murder, shootings, stabbings, and robberies. I do not want to see any violent criminal on the street. I understand the concern in the community about this case. When we considered what we would legally be able to present to a jury, the risk of this man being found not guilty and going free was simply too great. This plea allowed us to secure an admission of guilt from the Defendant, keep him from contacting the victim or her family, remove any chance of him being found not guilty, and allowed us to keep an extremely young child from having to tell her story to a group of strangers, if allowed to testify at all, and be subject to cross examination from a skilled defense attorney."
At Tuesday's plea hearing, Assistant District Attorney Jason Ferguson offered a deal that would drop both charges in the indictment in exchange for a guilty plea on another first-degree felony, injury to a child with serious bodily injury. The decision wasn't easy, he said, but was ultimately made out of concern for the consequences and possible outcome of going to trial. “In this case, we were dealing with a child who was 2 years old at the time of the offense, no adult witnesses, but serious injuries," Ferguson said in an email. "When we were looking at our options, my primary concern was for the best interest of the child, including considering what going through the rigors of trial preparation and testimony in front of a jury would be like for a toddler. In addition, I had to consider the very real possibility that if the child was unable to testify, the defendant would simply go home with no consequences."
"One thing that was clear is that this child was injured," Ferguson continued. "While not ideal, this plea allowed us to secure an admission of guilt from the defendant, keep him from contacting with victim or her family, remove any chance of a not guilty, and allowed us to keep an extremely young child from having to tell her story to a group of strangers and be subject to cross examination from a skilled defense attorney."
Th original complaint filed with the case alleged that Boden had been drinking on Jan. 1 when he got into an argument with a woman and the police were called. While the police were dealing with Boden, the woman changed the girl's diaper, where she discovered a large amount of blood. A sexual assault nurse examiner evaluated the injuries, and doctors discovered a laceration “consistent with a recent penetrative trauma...” that they deemed was “…not an accidental injury or one the child would have caused to herself,” the complaint states.
"It was a very difficult decision," Ferguson said. John Young, speaking on behalf of his client, echoed the same sentiment. "It was a difficult decision for Tom to accept a plea offer in the case; but under the circumstances, we came to the conclusion that it would be in his best interest to accept the agreement," Young said. Injury to a child is a "3G" offense, Ferguson explained, and has a punishment range of up to 99 years incarceration. "...if the Defendant is unable to complete his probation, he faces up to 99 years in prison with the harsher parole rules of 3g offenses,” Ferguson said.
Update: Friday, Aug. 28, 12 p.m. Amidst a social media frenzy surrounding the case, prosecuting attorney Jason Ferguson added further clarification on the reasoning behind the decision he made and explained some of the legal aspects of trying a case like the one of Thomas Boden.
"In order for a child to be allowed to testify at a trial in Texas, the Judge must be convinced that the child is able to (1) intelligently observe the events, (2) accurately remember the events, (3) adequately tell the jury about the events, and (4) understand the moral obligation of telling the truth. The only witnesses to this offense were both toddlers – one was 2 and one was 4. The possibility of one or both of these children being unable to testify was extremely high, if not a certainty. If that were to happen, we faced the very real possibility that the Defendant would be found not guilty and simply go home with no consequences. That was something we could not risk. I have worked hard with law enforcement to keep our community safe from violent criminals, prosecuting defendants in trials for murder, shootings, stabbings, and robberies. I do not want to see any violent criminal on the street. I understand the concern in the community about this case. When we considered what we would legally be able to present to a jury, the risk of this man being found not guilty and going free was simply too great. This plea allowed us to secure an admission of guilt from the Defendant, keep him from contacting the victim or her family, remove any chance of him being found not guilty, and allowed us to keep an extremely young child from having to tell her story to a group of strangers, if allowed to testify at all, and be subject to cross examination from a skilled defense attorney."
http://sanangelolive.com/news/san-angelo/2015-08-31/preparing-protest-justice-annabelle
Kay Hickey was 8 years old when a trusted member robbed her of innocence the moment he started sexually molesting her. For most of her childhood, she lived in fear that this man would kill her and her family because he told her he would do so if she said a word. In fact, when she was 10, the Dallas/Fort Worth native and her family went out to the lake. Her parents had a boat, so they wanted to put it to use. As family members and Hickey jumped off the boat and swam in the lake, this family member went beneath Hickey, pulled her under water, brought her back up and whispered in her ear, “I could kill you, and no one would know I did it.” Hickey’s parents and family members were only 20 feet away.
Today at 50, Hickey has had to relive that pain all over again since reading the story about Annabelle, the two-year-old little girl who was sexually molested by Thomas Boden, a 29-year-old San Angelo man who was sentenced to 10 years deferred adjudication probation last Tuesday.
“All I keep thinking of is this little girl has only lived on this planet for two years, and now, for the rest of her life, she’s going to have to deal with this,” Hickey said. “She’s going to have to think about it. Even at two years old, she’s going to remember it, and that’s not fair.”
Hickey, two other women with similar stories, and approximately 11 other people from different backgrounds, ages, marital and family status joined together at Unidad Park Saturday morning to prepare for the “Justice for Annabelle Protest” scheduled at 10 a.m. at the Tom Green County Courthouse, 112 W. Beauregard Ave. These San Angelo residents said they were overcome with an onslaught of emotions, including anger, disbelief, hurt, pain, sorrow, and more importantly, a sense of injustice since reading Boden is free to walk the streets of their city without being listed on the Sex Offender registry while little Annabelle has to live the rest of her life recovering from what happened to her.
“There’s no justice. It will affect every single thing she does in her life, with or without therapy,” Hickey said. “I read the story over and over again, and got more upset. I’m 50 years old now. To read about another child that I do not know…I’ve never met Annabelle. I’ve never met her mother or her family, but it just brought everything back, and I know that more than likely will happen with her and other victims of sexual assault.”
Today at 50, Hickey has had to relive that pain all over again since reading the story about Annabelle, the two-year-old little girl who was sexually molested by Thomas Boden, a 29-year-old San Angelo man who was sentenced to 10 years deferred adjudication probation last Tuesday.
“All I keep thinking of is this little girl has only lived on this planet for two years, and now, for the rest of her life, she’s going to have to deal with this,” Hickey said. “She’s going to have to think about it. Even at two years old, she’s going to remember it, and that’s not fair.”
Hickey, two other women with similar stories, and approximately 11 other people from different backgrounds, ages, marital and family status joined together at Unidad Park Saturday morning to prepare for the “Justice for Annabelle Protest” scheduled at 10 a.m. at the Tom Green County Courthouse, 112 W. Beauregard Ave. These San Angelo residents said they were overcome with an onslaught of emotions, including anger, disbelief, hurt, pain, sorrow, and more importantly, a sense of injustice since reading Boden is free to walk the streets of their city without being listed on the Sex Offender registry while little Annabelle has to live the rest of her life recovering from what happened to her.
“There’s no justice. It will affect every single thing she does in her life, with or without therapy,” Hickey said. “I read the story over and over again, and got more upset. I’m 50 years old now. To read about another child that I do not know…I’ve never met Annabelle. I’ve never met her mother or her family, but it just brought everything back, and I know that more than likely will happen with her and other victims of sexual assault.”
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/local-news/protestors-gather-at-courthouse_67255264
People gathered around 8 a.m. to protest a recent plea agreement involving Thomas Boden and Jason Ferguson, assistant district attorney for the 51st Judicial District.
The protesters were made up mostly of women wearing pink holding posters and signs emblazoned with messages such as “Justice for Annabelle,” “No excuse for rape or violence” and “This will never be ok.”
The protest was peaceful, starting with speech from Karla Payne, executive director for the Concho Valley Rape Crisis Center. As the protest continued, one mother came up to the mike and spoke bluntly about the case and denouncing Tom Green policing authorities. This sparked a line of people speaking angrily about the case as well.