http://www.tylerpaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090704/NEWS01/907040308Saturday, July 04, 2009
CPS Tapes Sought As Next Defendant Goes To Trial In Mineola Swingers’ Club CaseBy MALENA OGLES Staff Writer As the next defendant in the "Mineola Swingers' Club" case approaches trial, his attorney says he is looking for several interviews with children that were taped by Child Protective Services.
Jason Cassel, defense attorney for Dennis Boyd Pittman, said in a pre-trial hearing Thursday that he is looking for two taped interviews by CPS caseworkers, one in which a purported victim denies having been abused.
Pittman's trial is set to begin July 20. Smith County Assistant District Attorney Joe Murphy is prosecuting the case.
Pittman, 46, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child in connection with his alleged involvement in the case in which young children were forced to dance and perform sexual acts for an audience. If convicted of the first-degree felony, Pittman faces 5 years to life in prison.
The victims include three siblings, who at the time of the outcries in 2005, were a 7-year-old girl, a 6-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. The siblings' aunt, who was 6, also allegedly was forced to dance and have sex with the other children.
Six people were indicted on multiple felony charges, including Pittman, Shauntel Mayo, 30, her boyfriend Jamie Pittman, 37, and Patrick Stephen Kelly, 42, all of Tyler; Shelia Darlene Sones, 49, Mineola; and her husband Jimmy Dale Sones, 35, Brownsboro, after a two-year investigation into the alleged sex ring.
During the hearing, held in 241st Judge Jack Skeen Jr.'s court, seven witnesses testified as to the whereabouts of the tapes.
Tammy Hooley, who worked at CPS in 2005 and was assigned to the "Mineola Swingers' Club" case, said that in order to check out a video from storage, approval from a supervisor or the person who created the video was required. The club, which is alleged to have operated out of a former Mineola day care center, was a place where children were forced to dance and perform sexual skits for paid audiences, according to testimony in previous defendants' trials.
"You would not be able to request the video, take and remove it," she said, adding that she was not aware if there was documentation of those who requested to view the video tapes.
"These particular videos and other videos are in a file cabinet in a room that only workers and supervisors were able to access," she said adding that she believed the room to the file cabinet or file cabinet itself had a lock.
Hooley said she did not conduct or take part in the July 2005 video interview with the victim and has "no idea" what happened to the missing tapes.
Alexia Hunter, a former CPS caseworker, said she remembers the July 2005 interview in which one of the victims denied the abuse, but has "no idea" where the tapes go after they are filmed.
"The CAC (Children's Advocacy Center), to my knowledge, keeps copies of the interview and any of the investigators involved get a copy," she said.
Ms. Hunter said it also was likely that she communicated the results of the July 2005 interview to an investigator at the Smith County District Attorney's office by phone.
John Gillentine, supervisor for family preservation at CPS, said he was aware that taped interviews were conducted with children involved in the alleged sex club.
Gillentine said that whenever a child is interviewed, either a video or audio tape is recorded and the tapes are placed with the paper case file.
Between 2007 and 2008, many files were cleared from the office and moved to a mass storage building.
There currently is no internal tracking system for files kept by CPS, but Gillentine added that, "The (girl's) video tape should have been located with the open case file."
According to CPS documents, Gillentine photographed one of the alleged victims in 2004.
"I don't know if those pictures are in there (the case file), but they should be," he said.
Gillentine said there also should be audio tapes of his interview with the girl for alleged physical abuse.
He said looking through the case file, he did not notice any type of audio or visual documentation, but at the time, he was not looking for those specific items.
"I would hope that it's located because it's part of the file, but if it's not located with the file now, I just don't know where it could be," he said.
Gillentine testified that any time a tape is given to the district attorney's office, a copy is made and CPS keeps the original.
He said that the agency does not keep any kind of documentation as to who they give the copies of tapes.
Assistant Smith County District Attorney Tiffany Wickel, who handles CPS cases, said that she was not aware the tapes existed.
"I did not have video or audio tapes," she said, adding that the only time she saw any video interviews was during the first trials and at the Mineola Police Department when the investigation began.
Texas Ranger Sgt. Philip Kemp also testified that he had never seen the two missing videos.
On March 27, 2008, Jamie Pittman was convicted by a Smith County jury of aggravated sexual assault of a child and was sentenced to life in prison.
Mayo, 29, also received a life sentence from May 8, 2008, from a jury.
Kelly was found guilty Aug. 21, 2008, of engaging in organized criminal activity and sentenced to life in prison for conspiring with other adults to force two young siblings to have sex with each other for a paying audience.
Pittman's ex-wife Rebecca Pittman, Shelia Darlene Sones, who is Ms. Mayo's mother, and Ms. Sones' ex-husband Jimmy Dale Sones also are awaiting trials for the alleged sexual abuse of the children.