EDITOR'S NOTE: It is the policy of the Tyler Morning Telegraph not to identify the victims of sexual assault to protect their identities and encourage the reporting of such crimes.

Posted on Friday, March 28, 2008

By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

Jamie Pittman was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for his role in running a "Mineola Swingers Club," where several young children were forced to dance and perform sexual acts for an audience.

Jamie Pittman sits quietly in court Thursday in Tyler. Pittman was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

A Smith County jury convicted the 36-year-old Tyler man of aggravated sexual assault of a child - causing two young siblings to have sex with each other in 2004 - after four minutes of deliberation in 241st District Judge Jack Skeen Jr.'s court. The jury sentenced him to the maximum sentence and a $10,000 fine after two minutes of deliberation.

Pittman will be eligible for parole after serving 30 years in prison. He has six more pending felony cases against him.

The victims in the case include three siblings, who at the time of the outcries in 2005 were a 7-year-old girl, a 6-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. The siblings' aunt, who was 6, was also forced to dance and have sex with the other children.

All of the victims, as well as an older child, testified Thursday about what the six defendants forced them to do and how they fed them drugs to help them perform.

During victim impact statements, the aunt, now 9, said she forgave Pittman.

"I used to be afraid of you. ... But now you're going to pay," she said. The foster parents of the three siblings each said they hoped Pittman would go back to his jail cell and pray for God's forgiveness.

John Cantrell said he now has the opportunity to raise the children and take care of them. "I'm going to love them as a father," he said.

"You broke my heart," Margie Cantrell told Pittman. "You sentenced them to something they won't get over."

In March 2005, Child Protective Services began investigating allegations of neglect and drug abuse. What they discovered were children suffering ongoing sexual abuse and exploitation. A two-year investigation resulted in Pittman being charged with seven felonies, along with Shauntel Loraine Mayo, 29, Patrick Stephen Kelly, 41, and Dennis Boyd Pittman, 45, all of Tyler; Shelia Darlene Sones, 48, Mineola; and Jimmy Dale Sones, 33, Brownsboro.

CHILDREN TESTIFY

The three siblings and the aunt, all wearing their Easter outfits, testified Pittman and the other defendants would give them "silly pills" before they performed at the club to help them dance. At the age of 5, the children entered "kindergarten," where they would learn how to perform sexual acts, first on dolls, then on themselves and other children.

The youngest sibling, now 7, likes to play with Barbies and eat spaghetti and likes living with her new mom. She said she learned "bad stuff" in kindergarten and was forced to take silly pills that made her do bad stuff with the other children. She never danced at the club. She hadn't graduated kindergarten by the time the club was shut down.

The aunt, now 9, said art was her favorite class and she likes to play with stuffed animals.

The girl testified that she was taught to do "sexual stuff" and would do it with her nieces and nephew at the club while people watched. When asked what type of clothing they would wear at the club, she said "Something that you wouldn't see people out in public wearing." She said Pittman would record them while they were on stage.

The boy, now 9, testified that in the kindergarten he went to, "they taught us to rub dolls and stuff" and themselves. When shown a picture of the club, he said he "would go up on stage and do bad stuff to my sisters." He said the "silly pills" Pittman and Ms. Mayo would give them would "make you want to do anything you want to do."

He said if he told anyone, Pittman threatened to whip him.

The oldest sister, now 10, said she likes to draw.

She said she went to two types of kindergartens - one where she learned math and science and one where she was taught "touching each other and more" by Pittman and "Booger Red," who is Patrick Kelly.

If she didn't dance at the club, "I wouldn't get fed and Booger Red would hang me," she said.

Mrs. Cantrell, who has been a foster mom for 36 years, has had hundreds of children come through her house and has adopted 27 of them. She said she does it because she loves children and she has "had to give up her life to do it."

She said when the two siblings, the oldest girl and the boy, arrived in her home in May 2005, she saw several indicators in their behavior that gave her concern of sexual abuse. She described how the boy was violent and angry and the girl was very provocative.

She said that when the children began to trust her, they began telling her about the sexual abuse. Later, their younger sister also came to live with them. She also displayed concerning behavior and began telling her of the abuse, she said.

When the two older siblings pointed out the building they said they danced in, Mrs. Cantrell took them straight to the Mineola Police Department.

But the police dropped the case in two days. It was only after Assistant Smith County District Attorney Tiffani Wickel, who handles all CPS cases, learned of the alleged sexual abuse and asked the Texas Rangers to investigate, that anyone was charged, prosecutors said.

Mrs. Cantrell said it was still hard for all of the children to talk about what they went through and she couldn't imagine it - "not even the tip of it," she said.

A 15-year-old girl said she was familiar with the victims in the case, as well as Jamie and Dennis Pittman and some of the other defendants. The girl, who has known Dennis Pittman for about 12 years, said she was 11 when he, Jamie Pittman and others would do methamphetamine and marijuana at her house. If they wouldn't offer her any drugs, which they often did, she would take the other kids outside because of the smoke, she said.

Later, she learned the "happy pills" they were feeding her were Vicodin and they also gave her marijuana. She said they took her to strip clubs and bars in Tyler and Dallas and once took her to a back room and asked her to strip for them. When she declined, they took the oldest victim in the case in the back room, she said.

She said she was 11 when Dennis Pittman raped her and told her he'd kill her if she told anybody. She said it was scary to talk about it Thursday because she will have to face him soon. Dennis Pittman also gave her a tattoo, which she showed the jurors.

Dr. Gayle Burress, a forensic counselor, said there was nothing to indicate that the children had been coached to say what they did or that they made up their stories. She said a child won't tell anyone they've been sexually abused until they feel safe.

"This is something these children will have to deal with for the rest of their lives," she said. "It's sick and it's hard. For someone to do that to a child is just beyond reprehensible."

Dr. Burress said she suspected that there were more of these kids involved.

"When we can exploit someone, it means we don't care about them," she said. "It means we see them as a thing that we can use." She said the only way to make sure Pittman didn't reoffend is to take away his population of children.

During the punishment trial, Pittman's mother, Brenda Wright, testified that Pittman was a "good son" whom she provided for and protected as a child.

ATTORNEYS ARGUE

What happened to those kids is unimaginable and indescribable, Assistant Smith County District Attorney Joe Murphy said during closing arguments in the first phase of trial. He said when the Mineola Police Department declined to investigate the case, the Smith County District Attorney's Office found out. He said when no one else would help the children, CPS workers had to. They did and so did Texas Ranger Sgt. Phillip Kent, who investigated.

He said the cases were being prosecuted in Smith County, even though the club was in Wood County, because the defendants lived in Smith County and held kindergarten at their homes. They also drove the kids from their homes to the club to exploit them, he said.

"They got to dance for their food," Murphy said. "You're hearts should be torn apart if you sit and think what these kids went through."

"Only you can say that's enough. ... Only you can put an end to this," Murphy said.

Defense attorney Jim Huggler said the jurors had listened to and seen disturbing things. He asked them to look at the evidence and see if it added up to what Murphy thought it did. He said sometimes it's a problem when things are too consistent. Huggler said there was no physical or medical evidence and no DNA in the case.

Murphy said there were a lot more pedophiles involved in the case than those who have been charged. He asked the jury to let them know they better run because "if we find you, we will bring you to justice."

During closing arguments in the punishment trial, Murphy said Pittman deserved the maximum. He told them to give him life and a $10,000 fine because it was all they could give him. Murphy said the kids deserved to go home and know they won't have to see Pittman any more. He said he gave the five children life sentences and "he deserves one of them."

"One down, five to go," Murphy said of the remaining defendants.

Huggler asked the jurors to consider the full range of punishment, from probation up to life in prison, and assess the sentence they felt was appropriate.

Emphasis added by H4K Editor