Brawley woman awaits sentencing in molestation case
EL CENTRO – Monday’s sentencing hearing for Diane Christina Deveaux, the 36-year-old Brawley woman who was arrested in February 2017 for molesting two minors, was rescheduled for Wednesday.
Deveaux potentially faces a sentence of 50 years to life imprisonment for having pleaded no contest on July 10 to two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child.
As part of the July 10 plea agreement, the county District Attorney’s Office agreed to dismiss seven counts of oral copulation/sex with a minor 10 years or younger, and six counts of forcible lewd act upon a child.
The charges stem from a series of videos Deveaux recorded and shared with Richard Alton Morgan, a 58-year-old Mascotte, Fla. resident who was arrested Feb. 13, 2017, by the Lake County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit.
The videos in question depicted Deveaux performing lewd acts with two separate minor victims, who were identified as relatives, a July 23 county Probation Department report stated.
Deveaux had reportedly broadcast the lewd acts to Morgan via webcam multiple times over a two-month period in 2010, when the two victims were respectively about 1 and 7 years old, the probation report stated.
Deveaux and Morgan had reportedly met online sometime before early 2010.
“Deveaux said Morgan had manipulated her in doing these things,” the county Probation Department report stated.
Deveaux was arrested Feb. 13, 2017, by the Brawley Police Department with the assistance of the Imperial Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce based on information provided by Lake County, Fla. sheriff’s investigators.
Morgan, who was sentenced in July 2017 to more than 35 years in a Florida prison, had told Lake County, Fla., authorities of Deveaux’s involvement in producing the videos, the probation report stated.
When Deveaux was asked by local investigators about the videos and the acts depicted, Deveaux had initially claimed she had been applying rash ointment and the videos were meant to be shown to a physician, the probation report stated.
Eventually, she conceded to investigators that her actions had crossed the line.
At some point, Deveaux reportedly told Morgan that it was wrong, and she stopped the lewd acts, she reportedly told a local investigator, the probation report stated.
Her two victims were reportedly too young to remember any incidents of abuse, the probation report stated.
“It is difficult to conceive facts that are more deplorable than those found in this case,” the county Probation Department report stated.
Deveaux’s lack of any prior criminal history is considered the only mitigating factor in her favor in regards to her sentencing.
Aggravating factors listed in the probation report include the vulnerability of the victim, inducing another individual to participate in said crimes, sophisticated planning, exploiting the trust of the victims and being considered a danger to society.
As part of her plea agreement, it is also recommended Deveaux be given credit for having served 612 days in custody, as of Monday. She would also have to register as a sex offender.