NEW BOSTON, Texas-An adult survivor of child sexual assault faced her abuser-her father-in a Bowie County courtroom Thursday moments after he pleaded guilty to five felony counts.
It has been more than a decade since Carlandria Talbert, 29, told her mother that her father, Carl Talbert, 67, was sexually abusing her. She was around 15 years old. It was in the mid-2000s, and child sex abuse was the topic of discussion on a popular daytime television talk show playing in her family's home. When her mother asked if she had ever been molested, Carlandria Talbert admitted she had, and when her mother asked by whom, Carlandria told her.
"Daddy," she recalled as her response while testifying Thursday under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp.
Carlandria Talbert testified that her mother's initial reaction made her believe she would spend the rest of her childhood living with her mom, that her father would be forced out of the family's home in New Boston. But that didn't happen.
Carlandria Talbert said her mother confronted her father.
"He admitted it and he said, 'Let's work it out as a family,'" Carlandria Talbert testified.
Carlandria Talbert said her mother cried.
"My father disappeared for a few days, my mother disappeared to her room," Carlandria Talbert said. "When my mother spoke with him in front of me about it, she asked me if I wanted to go to the police. I wasn't sure. I was young."
Carlandria Talbert testified that she didn't want to be responsible for her family's break-up.
"She (my mother) just wanted his promise that he wouldn't do it again and asked me to let her know if he did it again, if it happened again," Carlandria Talbert said.
As the last few years of her adolescence unfolded, Carl Talbert refrained from sexually abusing his daughter.
"There was the request of starting it again. He'd say, 'What we were doing, would you like to do that again,'" Carlandria Talbert testified. "I said, 'No.'"
There were inquiries from her mother too.
"Her occasional questions, 'Are y'all doing it again,'" Carlandria Talbert said. "That hurt has, growing up, has stuck with me and led me to the conclusion that my comfort, my desires, my needs, were always second fiddle to the next person's."
Carlandria Talbert said the "first hurt" was her father's choice to go from her protector to her abuser. The "second hurt" came when her mother chose her father over her.
While serving in the U.S. Airforce, Carlandria Talbert sought counseling to address "my sudden rage problem."
Through therapy, Carlandria Talbert realized that the source of her mental health issue was the childhood abuse and her unresolved feelings concerning it. In November 2014, Carlandria Talbert traveled from her post on a Louisiana military base to the New Boston Police Department. There she met with investigator Jasmine Baker who testified that Carl Talbert admitted to the abuse when she interviewed him.
Carlandria Talbert was 12 when Carl Talbert, a retired Vietnam veteran, took her to property owned by a family member ostensibly to teach her self-defense moves. While restraining her in a hold from which she couldn't free herself, Carl Talbert began to touch his daughter sexually, Carlandria Talbert testified. Later, while in the family car, Carl Talbert sexually assaulted Carlandria Talbert.
Carl Talbert stood with Texarkana lawyers John Pickett and Jason Horton and entered pleas of guilty to three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact in a second-floor courtroom of the Bowie County courthouse Thursday morning. Carl Talbert's indictment alleges the crimes were committed in 2002, a time when Texas law allowed defendants to receive probation for aggravated sexual assault of a child or a prison sentence in the range of five to 99 years or life. In 2007, the law was changed, and defendants convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child after that time are no longer eligible for probation. Each of the two counts of indecency are punishable by two to 20 years.
Crisp asked Carlandria Talbert how she hopes her father's case will resolve.
"I want him to be registered as a sex offender. I want to protect others, I want people to be safe," Calandria Talbert said. "If it's thought that removing him from society would be safety for others, then you can make that callCan I leave it up to you?"
Carlandria Talbert looked from the witness box and upward into the face of 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart as she asked the court to decide if her father should remain free or spend some or all of his golden years in a Texas prison. Lockhart assured Carlandria Talbert that her father will be required to register as a sex offender and scheduled the case for formal sentencing in early December.
"Let me tell you something. Even if he hadn't pleaded guilty, I still would have believed your testimony here today," Lockhart said, noting the difficulty Carlandria Talbert had while reliving the most painful memories of her past.
After Carlandria Talbert was released from testifying and had exited the courtroom, the defense addressed the court. Pickett and Horton both said that binders they submitted to the court as exhibits meant to aid Lockhart at sentencing were in no way meant to excuse Carl Talbert's violations of his duty as a father and the law. The binders detail Carl Talbert's military service history and his medical problems.
Pickett emphasized that Carl Talbert has never denied his misconduct and added that he is in failing health.
Carlandria Talbert's powerful testimony was mentioned by the defense as well.
"He sincerely apologizes to her," Pickett said. "He hopes today will bring her some sense of healing, of peace and perhaps some happiness instead of the hurt."
Horton too spoke of Carlandria Talbert's candor.
"It's obvious how much courage that took," Horton said. "It was difficult for her but she put it together in such a way that we understood where she was coming from."
Crisp noted the difficult decision Lockhart faces.
"To me she has expressed wanting him to register as a sex offender and get some help," Crisp said. "I get up week in and week out and tell the citizens, 'I will never be a party to putting someone with this offense on probation.' To remain true to that and apply justice equally I just can't go along with that (probation). I appreciate his service. But at some point you just have to pay the price for what you've done."