Saturday, June 28, 1997
Abilene man sentenced to 20 years in prison
By RICHARD HORN / Abilene Reporter-News
An Abilene man who blindfolded his 10-year-old stepdaughter
and molested her was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday.
Steven Paul Thomason's friends, relatives and therapist recommended
probation, saying he's dramatically changed his life and regrets
his crime. He pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault.
"He looks different, he acts different, he is different,"
his mother told state District Judge Jess Holloway. "He's
begged forgiveness from us and everyone else he's hurt."
But District Attorney James Eidson said probation is just telling
a criminal to "go and sin no more."
"Some criminal acts are so vile, so disgusting and not
to mention harmful that we cannot let them go unpunished,"
he told Holloway. "This little girl is going to be scarred
forever."
Thomason, 28, was accused of engaging in oral sex with the
girl, who has attention-deficit disorder, fondling her, having
her watch porno movies and committing other sexual acts when she
visited her mother at their trailer home. He was charged last
summer.
He faced up to life in prison after pleading guilty. The girl's
father and stepmother said Friday they wanted him to be jailed
at least until she's an adult, so she can visit her mother without
being afraid.
"I'd just like her to have a chance to grow up,"
her stepmother said.
Since the incidents, the girl has been less affectionate with
males in her life and still has nightmares, her father said. Late
at night she'll wake up and come into the living room, crying
that "Steve's in the bathroom hurting me," he testified.
Several defense witnesses said Thomason is making good progress
with a therapist and is a changed man since re-connecting with
his church. He's sorry for what he did, they said, and argued
nothing would be gained by sending him to prison.
In the year he's been out on bond, defense attorney Ross Adair
said, Thomason has "done a terrific job rehabilitating himself."
Probation would allow him to be a productive citizen, Adair said,
while sending him to prison could just turn him into a repetitive
criminal.
As he left the courthouse for prison, Thomason said the 20-year
sentence is unfair.
"I'm a changed man," he said.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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