Lubbock man on trial for sexually abusing neighbor's daughters accepts 50-year prison sentence plea offer
The trial of a 52-year-old Lubbock man accused of sexually abusing his neighbor's daughters seven years ago ended abruptly on Tuesday when he pleaded guilty in exchange for a 50-year prison sentence.
Jurors in the 140th District Court were dismissed near the end of the day after Thomas White indicated to the court that he was accepting a plea offer in exchange to guilty pleas to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
White, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since his Feb. 5, 2021 arrest, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for each count and the sentences will run concurrently.
The offense carries a punishment of five years to life in prison and White was on trial for seven counts.
Before White's plea, jurors were watching a video of his January 2021 interview with Lubbock police detectives. The video was stopped about 20 minutes into the two-hour long video, about three minutes before White would confess to sexually abusing two sisters, one of whom was considered disabled.
The confession would account for an eight-count indictment filed against him.
At that point of the trial, the victims had not yet testified and White's plea spared them from having to recount the abuse in front of a jury.
"Once we impanel a jury we like to leave it up to the jury usually," said prosecutor Jessica Gorman. "But in a situation like this, where it saves two child victims from having to testify, it's a really good thing."
Jurors were selected on Monday. However, before attorneys gave their opening statements on Tuesday, the court held a pre-trial hearing in the morning to go over several defense motions. One of the motions challenged the admissibility of the video with defense attorneys arguing that White involuntarily spoke with detectives.
The court rejected the argument and deemed the video admissible.
As part of his plea with the Lubbock County District Attorney's dismissed the remaining counts against him.
The charges against White stemmed from a Lubbock Police investigation that began in December 2020 when one of the girls made an outcry to a parent accusing White of sexually abusing her in the summer of 2015.
White lived across the street from the girls, who would often come over his house to play with his children.
"(They) started having some camp-out type sleep overs, which is where all of the abuse occurred," Gorman said.
White will have to serve half of his sentence before he is eligible for release on parole. However, Gorman said the sentence is essentially a life sentence for White.
"We're pleased with the resolution in the case," Gorman said. "It's a number that, I believe, the chance of him ever getting out of prison is very, very low."
White's attorney Afshin Zand, said his client decided to withdraw his defense after he learned of one of his victim's progress in recovering from the abuse she suffered at his hands.
"Knowing that she's got a lifetime of healing she's going to have to do and this (testifying at the trial) wasn't going to help that," he said.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Thomas White sentenced to 50 years in prison for sexually abusing girls
