Man gets life for sexual abuse of family members
NEW BOSTON, Texas —A man who has sexually abused children in his own family for years was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Derrick Harper, 32, was found guilty by a Bowie County jury of two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 involving two girls who are now 12 and 13. The abuse began when the victims were 5 and 6 years old.
Harper was sentenced to life on each count. There is no parole from any sentence imposed for continuous sexual abuse of a child in the range of 25 to 99 years or life.
Harper was sentenced to life for aggravated sexual assault of child for abuse suffered by one victim more than a decade ago. The victim, 25, testified that she was moved to come forward after seeing news about Harper’s arrest in connection with the two younger victims.
The victims testified that in addition to the sexual abuse Harper perpetrated on them, they witnessed his sexual abuse of other children not listed as victims. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said she and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards believe they have identified at least nine female and two male victims including the ones for which Harper was sentenced for sexually abusing Wednesday.
Witnesses testified that Harper would invite children to a house where he lived with other family in Texarkana, Texas, for parties and then sexually abuse them in a group after locking them in a room. Harper’s denial of any wrongdoing when he testified during the guilt/innocence phase of his trial was met with strong questions from Crisp.
The older victim testified that Harper first abused her when she was 5 or 6 and living in Crossett, Arkansas. She told the jury that Harper told her that if she told her parents, her father would kill Harper, go to prison and she would grow up without a father.
The older victim’s mother, who has adopted two of Harper’s biological children and is related to Harper through marriage, had a different theory. “My kids didn’t tell me because they knew I would have murdered him and honestly I probably would have,” the mother said.
The older victim testified that when she was about 12 she came to Texarkana from Arkansas to visit family at the house where Harper was living and was sexually assaulted again. One of the younger victims, now 12, made an outcry to a school counselor in another jurisdiction in early 2019. During the investigation, she described witnessing the sexual abuse of the victim who is now 13.
Both girls testified they were approximately 5 and 6 years old when Harper locked them in a bedroom and sexually abused them the first time. During his testimony, Harper claimed that the woman who adopted his special needs child and the woman who adopted his other two children, had conspired to coach the victims to falsely accuse him.
In rebuttal testimony, one of the women explained that the two women met for the first time Tuesday evening, have rarely communicated and live far away from each other.
“Shocking and disgusting barely begin to describe the testimony this jury heard. Three separate victims bravely testified about years of continuous sexual abuse, including an instance in which he locked several small girls in a room and sexually abused them at the same time,” Crisp said. “The jury’s punishment verdict of life without the possibility of parole is a just and right sentence given the horrendous crimes against children for which he was convicted.”
Richards expressed gratitude for the jury and hope for Harper’s victims.
“I’m thankful for the jury’s just verdict because it sends a message about how our community will handle child molesters,” Richards said. “Hopefully the young ladies who testified can feel some kind of peace going forward.”
Harper was represented by Assistant Public Defender Clayton Haas and 202nd District Judge John Tidwell presided over the trial.