Man pleads not guilty to sexually assaulting a child

Officials: Case connected to accused human trafficker

NEW BOSTON, Texas-A man with connections to an accused human trafficker pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child involving a 12-year-old girl.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/CELIA STOREY The front entrance of the former AMF Cycle Co. factory at 4300 W. 65th Street in Little Rock as it appeared June 17, with the HotFoot Group LLC, a trucking company, in residence.

Charles Edward Garton, 39, appeared Friday afternoon for arraignment before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart with Sylvia Delgado of the Bowie County Public Defenders Office at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston. Delgado entered pleas of not guilty to both counts.

"This case is kind of complicated. It's related to John Littleton and the discovery in that case is voluminous," Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said. "The public defenders office already has some of it, and there is some I can't turn over, such as the CAC (Child Advocacy Center) interviews, by law."

Crisp told Lockhart that she has "made an offer for a significant amount of time," and that she would leave the offer on the table until the defense has had opportunity to review the discovery, or evidence, the state intends to use at trial.

Garton also appeared before Lockhart on a pending motion to revoke probation he received for a theft offense committed in 2015.

Lockhart said the only allegation in the state's motion to revoke Garton's probation is the commission of a new offense, sexual assault of a child. Lockhart said he would reschedule the hearing on the motion to revoke for the same date, Aug. 7, as Garton's first pretrial hearing on the sexual assault charges.

Delgado asked Lockhart if he would consider reinstating Garton's prior bond because he wants to be able to work and hire a private attorney to represent him. Lockhart denied the request. Defendants being held on a probation revocation are not entitled to bond.

Garton was interviewed by Texas Department of Public Safety investigators with the Criminal Investigation Division after they executed a search warrant in April related to allegations of child sex abuse on the home of John Littleton on Meadow Drive in New Boston. Littleton was facing charges of sexual assault of a child when he was found dead in the Medow Drive home June 11.

Garton, who was living in the home, allegedly admitted to DPS investigators that he twice sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl, who was also residing in the house during a two-month period prior to execution of the search warrant. The girl was interviewed at the Children's Advocacy Center in Texarkana. She allegedly confirmed inappropriate contact by Garton during the interview.

A videotape labeled with a female first name was allegedly collected from a dresser drawer in Littleton's bedroom. The VHS tape allegedly contained three different recordings of Littleton having sex with an obviously underage girl in a motel room.

Investigators were able to determine the date the recordings were made because of a television news broadcast in the background announcing that Lisa Marie Presley had filed for a divorce from Michael Jackson. The announcement was made Jan. 18, 1996.

Investigators were also able to identify the person depicted in the video with Littleton and determined she was 14 at the time she was allegedly molested. The woman, now 36 allegedly has told investigators Littleton began sexually assaulting her when she was 11.

Garton is not the only person to face charges ancillary to the investigation initiated into Littleton's alleged wrongdoing. While conducting surveillance on Littleton, investigators determined that Kenneth Dewayne Nelson, 63, was selling drugs to Littleton and that Nelson was having sex with underage girls in exchange for sex. A Bowie County jury sentenced Nelson to five life terms Thursday for continuous trafficking of persons.

Garton faces five to 99 years or life in prison on each of the two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child if convicted.

[email protected]

Upcoming Events