Former CPS investigator sentenced after pleading guilty to child sexual assault
It was an emotionally charged day in court. Both the victim and his mother testified at the hearing for a former Child Protective Services investigator during a sentencing hearing.
On March 1, Slade Dean King of Abilene pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child, and at that time 350th District Judge Thomas Wheeler ruled that King would have no right to an appeal.
On Friday, 104th District Judge Jeff Propst delivered his sentence to an emotionless and rigid King.
The judge gave King a 10-year prison sentence after defense attorney Jacob Blizzard unsuccessfully argued for probation. It was solely Propst's decision, and no jury was present.
King will also have to register as a sex offender for life. The second degree felony is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Posed as a girl
For over nine years, King was a CPS investigator for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
In April 2022, however, he admitted to luring a 15-year-old victim to his apartment where he sexually assaulted him, according to court documents.
The court heard first from Abilene Police Department Cyber Crimes Detective Richard Perez, who testified that he found many illicit photos on King's phone of males of questionable ages, likely 15 to 19.
Perez also testified that he found a text from May 29, 2019, in which King's former roommate said there were some guys at the house looking to meet a girl for a sexual encounter.
The girl was an adult former coworker of King's, but that text led credence to the claim that King posed as a girl online to lure the victim to his apartment.
It was then brought up that every time the victim in the case asked King whether he was a man or a woman, King dodged the question and instead sent ambiguous illicit photos.
'Like my childhood left me'
The victim took the stand Friday to testify against King.
Despite bond conditions, which include no social media messages or contact with the victim, he noted that King had recently contacted him in January.
As the victim mentioned that contact, it was one of the only instances where King showed any emotion. Anger crossed his face, and he tightly furrowed his brows.
The victim went on to recount how the sexual assault had affected him negatively in the years since.
"It's like my childhood left me," he said.
All the while, King sat emotionless.
'Predatory'
When the victim's mother took the stand, King stared blankly at her while she gave damaging testimony against him, asking the judge for a prison sentence of at least 10 years.
"I don't know this man, but I don't see remorse," she said.
"I don't want anyone else in our community to suffer what he had to suffer," she said about her child.
"We need to protect our children," she told the judge.
There should be no confusion, she testified. Her son was 15 and looked every bit of 15 at the time of the sexual assault.
"That behavior is predatory," she said.
Not once throughout her testimony did the victim's mother lose her calm, steady demeanor.
When it was time for the defense attorney to question her, the victim's mother stood her ground against repeated attempts to throw blame at the victim.
When Blizzard asked about a possible sentence of probation, the victim's mother stood firm.
"Why are you asking me if there shouldn't be punishment?" she said.
Blizzard pointed out that he got to ask the questions.
The victim's mother tearfully replied that a prison sentence would hopefully prevent "somebody else from going through the same hardship, the same pain."
Terminated from CPS
The only person to testify on King's behalf was his former CPS coworker, Amy Rogers, who attempted to paint a picture of a stoic King who rarely showed emotion.
While Rogers told the judge there were no complaints against King at CPS or about inappropriate behavior, she said she was "extremely shocked and disappointed at the same time" when she learned of the sexual assault.
Rogers appeared to downplay the assault.
It was a "definite lapse of judgment," she testified without looking in the direction of the victim's family sitting in the courtroom.
When it was Assistant District Attorney Erin Stamey's turn to question Rogers, Stamey was quick to ask why King had been terminated from CPS.
Rogers testified about the circumstances of his termination. King had investigated a case but had neglected to ask the mother of a child certain questions regarding her mental health at the time.
King had subsequently closed the case, and just months later the mother killed the child in question. CPS then terminated King.
This happened before any allegations of sexual assault surfaced.
Stamey went on to question Rogers about the coworker who Stamey alleged that King had posed as to lure the victim to his apartment.
Stamey emphasized that Rogers did not know King had "more of a predatory nature than you would have thought."
'Whoever is out there and willing'
In a surprising twist, King took the stand Friday. Throughout his testimony, he sat rigid, with little to no emotion crossing his face.
"People have misjudged that I am a male," testified King, who has dodged questions of whether he is a woman or a man in online communications.
He told the judge the gay community in Texas is a hookup culture.
At this point, Blizzard attempted to shed some of the blame off King by asking him what kind of a partner does he prefer, what age and what race?
King calmly said, "I wouldn't say a certain type, no. No age, race. Whoever is out there and willing."
His testimony began to falter as he contradicted what the victim had said on the stand.
"I can't remember," King said when asked if he had ever messaged the victim's friend after the sexual assault had occurred.
King testified that he sometimes messaged 20 or more strangers at a time in an attempt to have a sexual encounter.
When it was Stamey's turn to question King, however, things began to heat up.
She asked King about blaming the victim and if he was "trying to hide the fact that you're a male."
"You lied," she said to King.
"I changed my story in the law enforcement center," he said in response.
'This is a predator!'
When it came time for closing arguments, Blizzard tried to shift the blame from King to the victim.
"He didn't get what he bargained for," Blizzard said.
Blizzard told the judge that King could "become an institutionalized criminal" if he received a prison sentence instead of probation.
He said that King was "not near as culpable as others who got probation."
During Stamey's turn to address the judge, she left little room for doubt.
"It's fairly clear King doesn't have remorse. He's blaming the victim!" she said.
She also noted that regardless of the circumstances of the sexual assault, "The law doesn't allow a 15-year-old to consent. This is a predator!"
She asked the judge for significant prison time for King — for the sake of the victim, "for his family, for the protection of this community."
As the judge delivered King's sentence of 10 years, the only sounds in the courtroom were the sobs of the victim's mother.
To report any abuse to DFPS, whether by name or anonymously, call 1-800-252-5400, or visit the website here.
Tips to protect your children from online predators
Sgt. Mike Moschetto of the Abilene Police Department's Special Investigations Bureau provided tips for parents to protect children from online predators.
If possible, delay giving your child a smartphone and do not allow them to use social media.
Use Mobile Device Manager software to access and monitor their phones (paid service, for example; Bark).
Use Life 360 to monitor their current and location history. Note that kids can work around this by turning their phones to airplane mode or disabling location services.
If you allow them to have social media accounts, you should also get an account and be friends with your child in the app.
Parents should routinely go into their child's phone and manually look through their texts, social media apps and pictures. Keep hidden folders in mind.
Children should not use Snapchat or TikTok. These can be extremely harmful to kids.
Have conversations with your children about taking selfies and sharing them. Those pictures have metadata and backgrounds that give information about your child to the public.
Limit the amount of screen time on a cellphone. Utilize the screen time option to limit when the phone can be used for social media. Outside the screen time window, you can set parameters to allow for phone calls from only authorized numbers.
In 2023 alone, the APD Cyber Crimes Unit investigated 146 cases involving child sexual abuse material. Many of those uploads were self-produced by a child without solicitation.
Do not allow a child to have their phone in their bedroom overnight.
Disabling the Wi-Fi in the household overnight can discourage the use of electronic devices.
A child should not expect privacy if they are posting on social media with thousands of others including online predators.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Former CPS investigator sentenced after child sexual assault guilty plea
