NEW BOSTON, Texas -A 23-year-old DeKalb, Texas, man received a 50-year sentence Wednesday after being convicted by a Bowie County jury of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl in 2012.
Isiah Marshawn Threadgill was found guilty by a jury of nine women and three men Wednesday afternoon of aggravated sexual assault of a child about an hour after hearing instructions on the law from 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
Threadgill's victim, now 16, testified that Threadgill, then 18, assaulted her during a gathering at Threadgill's mother's house in DeKalb, Texas, during the summer of 2012 when she was 11. The girl's father was dating a woman who is related to Threadgill's mother and had taken the girl with him.
The girl testified under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter that when she and about eight other youth were watching television in a bedroom of the home, Threadgill's behavior made her uncomfortable and she walked outside, found her father in the crowd of adults and told him she wanted to go home. The girl said her father promised they would leave soon but wanted to visit a bit longer. The girl said that when she saw Threadgill come outside she went back into the bedroom where the television was playing and laid down with another girl on one of the beds and fell asleep.
The victim testified that she was awakened to Threadgill touching her and that all of the others watching television were gone.
"I was saying, 'I want my daddy,' and he said, 'I'm you're daddy right now,'" the victim testified. "Then he pinned me down."
The girl said Threadgill shoved a white shirt into her mouth to stifle her screams as he sexually assaulted her. The girl said she was in shock and afraid of what her father might do if she told him of the assault.
The girl said years later, in May 2016, as friends at school were discussing the subject of rape, she mustered the nerve to tell her mother. The girl's mother immediately contacted law enforcement.
Missy Davison of the Texarkana Children's Advocacy Center testified under questioning from First Assistant District Attorney Mike Shepherd that the girl provided "sensory details" during her account of the assault that lend credibility to her claims but noted that it is not the job of a forensic interviewer to decide if a child is telling the truth.
Threadgill was represented by Shoaib Daredia and Clayton Haas of the Bowie County Public Defenders Office. During closing remarks during the punishment phase, Daredia argued that reasonable doubt exists and asked the jury not to convict Threadgill based on the victim's testimony.
"Our courageous victim provided chilling testimony of the violent encounter she had with this perpetrator," Shepherd said. "Our hope is that she will now be able to have closure as a result of the punishment returned by a very attentive jury."