Ex-Wichita County probation supervisor pleads guilty to perjury
A former Wichita County probation supervisor accused of lying on the stand has pleaded guilty to perjury in connection with a hearing to consider revoking a woman's probation in 2019, court documents show.
It came to light at the hearing that the woman's baby was adopted by a probation officer, prompting Wichita County District Attorney John Gillespie to call for a Texas Ranger to launch a corruption probe.
Four probation workers charged after probe
Multiple investigations resulted in charges and a shakeup in the Wichita County Adult Probation Department. Four probation workers were charged, including former supervisor Valerie Faith Vonada Thomerson. The resolution of her case wraps up criminal charges known to be related to the probe.
Thomerson of Bowie was placed on probation for a perjury charge as part of a plea bargain in connection with a May 17, 2019, hearing in 30th District Court, according to court records.
Thomerson pleaded guilty Nov. 29 in Wichita County Court At Law No. 2 and was placed on six months' deferred-adjudication probation for the misdemeanor charge, court documents show.
If Thomerson, 61, successfully completes the probation, she can avoid a misdemeanor conviction on her record.
A felony charge of aggravated perjury against her was dismissed as part of the plea bargain, according to court records.
Perjury is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Aggravated perjury is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Thomerson testified about her role as an officer of the Wichita County Community Supervision and Corrections Department during a 2019 hearing to consider revoking 45-year-old Brenda Lee Velasquez's probation for a felony drug offense.
Thomerson admits to making false statements under oath
While later being interviewed by a Texas Ranger, Thomerson "admitted to giving false statements under oath and provided information that proved her original statements to be false," according to allegations in a criminal complaint.
Lakashia Nicole Hinton, the former probation officer who adopted the child, is serving five years of probation for what she did in pursuit of Velasquez's newborn infant, now about 4.
Also known as Lakisha Nicole McKnight, Hinton pleaded guilty July 9, 2020, to the lesser charge of attempted bribery. She also entered a guilty plea to misdemeanor official oppression.
The attempted bribery conviction ensures Hinton will never be in a position of public trust again, Gillespie has said. In addition, the probation office was put in good hands under Kirk Wolfe's leadership.
Hinton, 42, had faced felony charges of purchasing a child and bribery in connection with incidents Oct. 9, 2018, as well as tampering with evidence in connection with a March 6, 2018, incident.
The charges of child-buying and evidence tampering were dismissed, and the bribery charge reduced as part of a plea bargain.
Two others from Probation Department pleaded guilty to charges
Another former probation officer, David Garon Jetton, pleaded guilty to a June 26, 2017, sexual assault and the official oppression of women whose probation he supervised, according to court documents.
More:Ex-probation officer pleads guilty to sexual assault, oppression
As part of a plea deal, Jetton, 72, was sentenced Feb. 7 to five years in prison for one count of sexual assault of a woman on probation and one year in jail for three counts of official oppression that occurred June 26, 2018; March 11, 2019; and April 22, 2019, court documents show.
Mark Daniel Wilson, a former lab technician for the Probation Department, pleaded guilty Aug. 19, 2021, to tampering with evidence by destroying a urine sample on Sept. 21, 2016, that would have proved a probation violation against a man, according to court records.
More:Ex-probation worker pleads Thursday on evidence tampering, sex assault charge dismissed
Wilson, 39, was placed on five years of deferred-adjudication probation and a sexual assault charge against him was dismissed as part of a plea bargain, according to court documents.
Velasquez requests review of child's adoption
Velasquez has requested a court to review her child's adoption, and a jury trial is set for 9 a.m. Feb. 27 in 89th District Court, according to court records.
The trial will be presided over by Senior Judge Jim Hogan, who retired from the bench of Wichita County Court At Law No. 1. Eighty-ninth District Judge Charles Barnard voluntarily stepped away from the case.
In addition, Velasquez sued the state of Texas and four former Wichita County adult probation workers, contending there were efforts to wrongly force her to give up her daughter, court records show.
The lawsuit was filed June 26, 2020, in 78th District Court, but it was moved to federal court because she alleged violations of her 14th Amendment right to due process.
U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor dismissed claims against three supervisors, Thomerson, Margaret Rogers and Beth Romm, citing their qualified immunity as public officials in a May 26, 2021, opinion.
The judge also dismissed the claims against Hinton on June 8, 2021, since she and Velasquez reached a resolution, federal court records show.
Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Former Wichita County probation supervisor pleads guilty
