NEW BOSTON, Texas-A jury of seven men and five women was selected Tuesday to decide the fate of a man accused of continuously sexually abusing a 13-year-old Bowie County girl.
Opening statements and testimony in the case of Todd Peck, 51, are expected to begin this morning before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston.
In addition to the alleged victim, the jury may hear from as many as five others who have stated that Peck molested them in varying jurisdictions over the past 20 years. One of the prior alleged victims is the older sister of the girl at the center of the charge for which Peck is being tried this week.
The sister contacted the Bowie County Sheriff's Office in April 2017. The older sister reported she had been sexually abused by Peck from age 9 to 13 or 14 when she lived with Peck and his wife in Harris and Montgomery counties in Texas. The girls' mother signed guardianship of the older sister over to Peck when the sister was about 9.
The older sister expressed concern that her younger sister was being sexually abused by Peck as well. At the time, Peck and the girl both lived in Bowie County. The alleged victim was interviewed April 18, 2017, at the Children's Advocacy Center in Texarkana. The girl denied being sexually abused during that interview, though she did state that she and Peck slept in the same bed.
In November 2017, the girl, 13, made a report of sexual abuse against Peck to a counselor at her middle school. The girl told a forensic interviewer at the CAC in November that Peck began sexually molesting her when she was 9.
Peck faces 25 to 99 years or life if found guilty. Assistant District Attorneys Kelley Crisp and Lauren Richards are prosecuting. Deborah Moore of the Bowie County Public Defenders Office is representing Peck. The trial is expected to take several days.