A New Boston, Texas, woman who engaged in sexual misconduct with a 13-year-old boy pleaded guilty to three felonies Wednesday but is asking that a jury assess her punishment.
Kimberly Elaine Mitchell, 37, appeared before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart with Texarkana lawyer Shorty Barrett in a first-floor courtroom of Texarkana's downtown Bi-State Justice Building. Mitchell entered pleas of guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and a single count of sexual assault of a child.
Mitchell, who has declined offers from the state for a plea bargain, is scheduled to go to trial before a Bowie County jury next week. The sole issue the jury will decide is what punishment Mitchell should face for sexually abusing the boy in 2014. Each of the two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child is punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison while the sexual assault charge is punishable by two to 20 years.
Lockhart scheduled the case for a final pretrial hearing Friday morning to address a pretrial motion by Barrett to exclude graphic text messages from evidence the jury can consider. Barrett told Lockhart he believes the messages will unfairly prejudice the jury against Mitchell and that they are irrelevant.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp disagreed.
"There is no more relevant or probative information to present to a jury," Crisp said. "It is prejudicial, but it's relevant."
The aggravated counts involve sexual misconduct Mitchell engaged in with the boy when he was 13, and the sexual assault charge involves misconduct Mitchell engaged in with the child when he was 14. The boy told police he became acquainted with Mitchell because of his friendship with Mitchell's daughter. Mitchell began sending sexually graphic text messages to the boy in April 2014.
Mitchell's alleged crimes came to the attention of New Boston police investigators after the boy's parents were made aware by another child, according to a probable-cause affidavit used to create the following account.
The following month, when the boy was home sick from school, Mitchell allegedly came to his house and had sex with him while his parents were away. Several days later, May 23, 2014, Mitchell allegedly picked the child up and took him to the Tex Inn motel in New Boston for sex. Mitchell also allegedly drove the boy to Scrapp Miller Park in New Boston and had sex with him in her car June 6, 2014.
Lockhart allowed Mitchell to remain free on her existing $55,000 bail bond.
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