NEW BOSTON, Texas-A former soldier on trial in Bowie County for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a Texarkana, Texas, 7-year-old in 2009 was the subject of a multi-agency task force formed in Colorado in 2010.
Sgt. William Otto of the Fountain, Co., Police Department testified that so many children were being approached and sexually victimized in his and neighboring communities, that area law enforcement agencies joined forces to catch the culprit later identified as Aaron Gregory Lucas. Lucas, 35, pleaded guilty in Colorado to a bevy of crimes involving young girls and is currently serving a sentence of 20 to life in that state.
Otto and other Colorado law enforcement officers testified about the "dumpster incident" and the "lemonade stand incident," among others. All of the crimes to which Lucas pleaded guilty in Colorado involved young girls living in low-income areas he could easily travel to while serving at different sites for the Army.
Fountain, Co., Detective Scott Gilbertson said Lucas has pleaded guilty to enticing a young girl from a playground at a low-rent apartment complex Nov. 16, 2011. The man dressed in "Army clothes" approached the girl as she was eating ice cream and asked if she wanted to "play pretend." Behind a dumpster near the playground, Lucas exposed himself to the child and said he "wished she would massage it."
Rebecca Arndt, who was working cases for the Colorado Springs police in 2010, testified that Lucas pleaded guilty to misconduct there with two girls, ages 6 and 9, whom he approached as they sold lemonade on a summer day. The lemonade case occurred about a week before the dumpster case, Arndt testified.
Otto testified about a case whose facts closely mirror the allegations in the Bowie County case. He said that an 8-year-old girl playing outside was forced into a silver or gray car with a black stripe. Otto testified that Lucas sexually assaulted the girl and then released her near the location where she was kidnapped. In all, the jury of eight men and four women heard testimony concerning seven occurrences in Colorado involving Lucas and eight young girls to which Lucas has pleaded guilty.
During opening remarks Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp told the jury the Texarkana girl was dragged Dec. 20, 2009, from the monkey bars of a playground area near a lower-income apartment complex on 15th Street. The girl was thrown into the back seat of a silver or gray car with a black stripe as her brother chased after it banging on the windows, Crisp said, describing the criminal history of Lucas as "once in a lifetime evil."
An analyst from the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Lab in Garland, Texas, testified that Lucas' DNA is a match to sperm found in swabs collected from the girl's mouth and anus. Texarkana, Texas, detective Latriesha Grandy testified under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards that the girl selected Lucas' photo from a line-up in 2013 after the DNA match.
Under questioning from a member of Lucas' defense team, Blake Burns of Fort Worth, Texas, Grandy testified that the girl had selected a different mugshot in 2010 as her assailant but that he was ruled out as a suspect when it was learned he is paralyzed on one side of his body and does not drive.
Lucas' lawyers, Burns, Nick Davis and Kyle Hogan, all of Fort Worth, have asked questions indicating the defense's theory of the case may center around the handling of physical evidence, including DNA. When Aaron Lucas was initially charged in Colorado, he raised an "evil twin" defense, claiming DNA collected from the young victims there actually belongs to his identical twin brother, Brian Lucas. But Aaron Lucas eventually pleaded guilty.
Following Crisp's opening statement Wednesday morning, the defense lawyers announced they will make their opening statement after the state has rested its case and the defense begins calling witnesses. Fifth District Judge Bill Miller instructed the jury to return to court this morning to continue hearing testimony from the state's witnesses. The alleged victim in the Bowie County case is expected to take the stand today.
Aaron Lucas is charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault of a child. Both offenses include a punishment range of five to 99 years or life in a Texas prison.