Pope guilty of charges, gets 40 life sentences

Editor’s Note: The following article contains material of a graphic sexual nature and may not be suitable for young readers.

Danie M. Huffman

wdreporter2@yahoo.com

With 43 counts of child sex crimes stacked against him, 12 jurors came back with a verdict of guilty.

James Kevin Pope, 43, will serve 40 consecutive life sentences for sexually assaulting three young victims and an additional 60 years for sexual performance of a child.

He will not be eligible for parole until he has served a minimum of 1,230 years in prison.

“The bottom line is that I couldn’t be happier for what the jury did and for the girls,” said Assistant District Attorney Robert DuBoise. “We notified them and they were thrilled and equally pleased.”

DuBoise and Kathleen Catania worked on putting the case together for more than three weeks prior to the trial.

Judge Graham Quisenberry granted the state’s request in that each life sentence Pope was handed must be served consecutively.

“We’re overwhelmed with Judge Quisenberry’s decision to stack the sentences and that he granted our request,” DuBoise said. “We believe it was a just result.”

Rick Alley, Pope’s defense lawyer commented in his closing remarks that the victims were incapable of understanding what happened.

“I respectfully submit to you that is BS,” Alley said. “If it was as ‘traumatic’ as they indicate, they would be able to give you [specific dates and times of the acts]. Simply because it’s shocking doesn’t make it true.”

He asked the jury to set aside their emotions and follow the law for an impartial and fair verdict.

Once in recess and the jury was in deliberation, jurors requested to view the calendar timeline made by the defense, audio phone recordings made by Pope to his mother and nude photos of the victims submitted in evidence.

The jury deliberated just over two hours in finding a guilty sentence Tuesday afternoon.

When the jury notified the court they had reached a verdict, court proceedings resumed.

As the guilty verdict was read, Pope’s mother sobbed heavily.

Alley requested a poll of the jury be announced, as each member stood, stated their name, confirmed the verdict was unanimous and was the decision of each juror.

Once the verdict was accepted by the court, proceedings for the sentencing phase immediately followed.

A family member of the victims took the stand. He looked directly at Pope and called him “the thing,” saying the victims were scared to death and insecure after what Pope did to them.

U.S. Secret Service Agent John Day also testified, stating he recovered more than 200 images of child erotica from the computers seized from Pope’s home.

Day, who is a computer forensic examiner and specializes in the recovery of digital images and extracting data, said several hundred pornographic teen and adult Web sites were visited on the same computers.

He testified the images were predominantly of a sexual nature and focused around teen and preteen sexual content.

Alley questioned Day that the sites could have been visited by anyone in Pope’s home.

Day said he could detect sites and who used the computer to a limited degree.

In his closing statement to the jury, Alley suggested community supervision for his client.

“Frankly, we don’t believe probation is an appropriate assessment here,” said Catania is her closing remarks.

She said adults are supposed to teach children good morals.

“[He taught them] humiliation, to be wholly and completely submissive, a life of secrecy, the idea of distrust, self doubt...,” she said. “Completely and utterly how to break a child’s spirit... I find it hard to imagine these girls will ever be able to have and enjoy an intimate relationship without relating them to [Pope].”

She requested the jury sentence Pope to the maximum to show the victims that justice was served and that they were not responsible.

Alley asked jury members when pondering a sentence, to ask themselves if an offender could be rehabilitated, was he worthy of rehabilitation, if the victim could recover, and to take everything into account when considering a punishment.

He said there was no serious bodily injury to the victims, no physical harm or permanent disfigurement was inflicted upon them and no death occurred.

“I’m only going to ask you to return a fair verdict,” he said.

DuBoise finalized closing arguments, saying the victims endured a “living hell.”

“Every instance in this case is stolen innocence,” DuBoise said. “These girls deserve to go to bed at night knowing that in 20 years, he won’t be calling them.”

He suggested life-term sentences on each of the 40 sexual assault of a child counts and 20 years for each count of sexual performance of a child.

The jury was placed in recess until they came to a conclusion.

Less than two hours later, they announced they had reached their decision.

Presiding Juror Stephen Acker said while in deliberation, jury members were not argumentative, but due to the subject matter, the case was difficult to decide a verdict and sentence.

“It wasn’t easy,” Acker said. “We had no expectations and took all considerations and evidence presented.”

Other members agreed unanimously.

“We were careful not to make any mistakes in viewing and evaluating the evidence and taking in the totality of the case and that there was a man’s life at stake here,” said juror Dale Lewis.

Alley said he plans to file an appeal on Pope’s behalf this morning due to Quisenberry’s ruling of stacking the life sentences. He declined to comment further due to the pending litigation.

James Wilson, a member of Pope’s defense team, said Quisenberry’s decision, “essentially puts Mr. Pope behind bars for the next 4,000 years.”

DuBoise said he was thankful of Parker County Sheriff’s Investigators Anne Hollis and Robert Pawley, who investigated the case and originally interviewed each victim.

“They did an amazing job with the initial interviews and case report,” DuBoise said. “They allowed us to walk in there fully prepared. I [also] find it notable that not one character witness stood for the defendant during the sentencing phase.”

Pope was transported to the Parker County Jail immediately following the conclusion of the trial.

“[Pope] is under close supervision and will be until he is transferred as soon as possible,” said Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler.

A family member of the victims said he couldn’t be more pleased with the jury’s decision.

“The girls are relieved,” he said. “They can finally get this behind them and go on with their lives. I’m going to make it my effort to make sure they are cared for and let them know every day how much hey are loved.”