Alleged Brawley child molester denied deal
The county District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday during a hearing at the El Centro courthouse that it would not be offering any plea deal to a 35-year-old Brawley woman accused of molesting two unidentified minors.
The announcement came during a pre-trial hearing for Diane Christina Deveaux, who has been in custody since Feb. 13, and is facing 15 felony counts of child molestation.
On Feb. 27, she had entered a not guilty plea.
Deveaux is due back in court on Aug. 17 for another pre-trial hearing, allowing time for her newly appointed county public defender to obtain an expert to testify on behalf of Deveaux’s defense during her anticipated trial.
Deveaux is facing seven charges of oral penetration or oral copulation of a child under the age of 10, as well as eight charges of alleged lewd acts on a child, which have additional allegations seeking enhanced sentencing terms.
Deveaux is also accused of using a webcam to broadcast the alleged molestation to Richard Alton Morgan, a 57-year-old Florida man who was also arrested Feb. 13 by Florida authorities for allegedly possessing child pornography.
The county DA’s Office had previously stated that Deveaux’s and Morgan’s arrests were connected based on evidence collected during searches of their respective residences.
Following Morgan’s arrest, he allegedly confessed to having downloaded child pornography on multiple occasions and was found in possession of an image of him molesting a young female, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Lake County sheriff’s detectives reportedly were able to identify the location of the female victim and arrest the victim’s mother, Deveaux, with the assistance of local law enforcement officials.