A Nash, Texas, woman who drove with two 12-year-olds in the trunk of her car was sentenced to a five-year term of probation Monday and must complete an intensive residential drug treatment program.
Camille Marie Hancock, 37, appeared with Clayton Haas of the Bowie County Public Defenders Office for sentencing before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. Hancock pleaded guilty earlier this month to two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and a single count of possession of methamphetamine under a gram.
"I remain perplexed as to why the state legislature has abandoning or endangering a child as a state jail felony," Tidwell said at the beginning of Hancock's hearing. "But that is the law I have to follow."
In Texas, a state jail felony is punishable by six months to two years in a state jail. Tidwell sentenced Hancock to the maximum two-year term on all three charges but suspended the jail time and assessed a five-year term of probation, the maximum allowed for a state jail felony.
All three sentences will run concurrently. As a condition of probation, Hancock must participate in a Substance Abuse Felony Punishment Facility program of drug treatment. Offenders in SAFPF typically remain in the lock-down treatment setting for about a year. After completing SAFPF, Hancock will participate in an aftercare program which is likely to include residence in a half-way house and participation in Tidwell's SAFPF re-entry drug court.
Tidwell ordered Hancock to complete 240 hours of community service restitution as well.
Hancock has been in custody since April 7 when she was stopped by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper near the intersection of U.S. Highway 59 and Farm to Market Road 2148. Hancock allegedly brought her passenger car to an illegal stop in the intersection before disregarding a red traffic light, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account.
As Trooper Jonathon Baldwin approached the car, he saw Hancock "reaching in and out of her purse in a frantic motion."
People in Hancock's car included a "young adult male front passenger, a young adult female passenger, an infant in a rear-facing car seat not fastened by a seat belt, and a young female passenger with a toddler in her lap unsecured," the affidavit states.
Baldwin noted a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car. Hancock admitted to smoking moments earlier while the toddler and baby were also in the car.
"Hancock was extremely nervous and I observed her to demonstrate several tics and body tremors throughout the interview," the affidavit states.
Tics and body tremors are symptoms associated with methamphetamine abuse. Hancock was in possession of a usable amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
While Hancock was being placed under arrest on two outstanding warrants, she informed the trooper that two 12-year-old boys were in the trunk of her car. Baldwin immediately opened the trunk and the boys were found lying down.
"Hancock would later inform me she had traveled from Queen City, Texas, en route to Texarkana with the boys laying down in the trunk of the car," the affidavit states. "Hancock stated she was giving a ride to the two adults and infant and had placed the two boys in the trunk for convenience."
Hancock admitted to having used meth and marijuana both before and during the drive, and she conceded that she was aware of the risk of injury or death to the boys created by allowing them to ride in the trunk of a car.