Former Breckenridge residents receive lengthy sentences in Oklahoma child abuse case
By Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan
Two former Breckenridge residents recently received lengthy prison sentences after pleading guilty to charges involving a 15-year-old child who was found tied up near a chicken coop in Washington County, Oklahoma, last summer. A third person involved in the case received a lighter sentence last month.
Johnny James received 35 years in prison, while Kayla Clark was sentenced to 30 years on Wednesday, Feb. 5, according to Washington County District Attorney William Drake. Both must serve 85 percent of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole, he said.
The sentences were handed down after both defendants accepted plea bargains and waived their rights to jury trials. A third defendant in the case, Linda Reynolds, identified as the child’s grandmother, received a three-year sentence in January.
Although in a news release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office dated July 29, 2024, the victim was reported to have been tied to a tree, Drake clarified today that she was tied up under a tree between a chicken coop and tall grass. “She was tied up, like, by herself, wrapped up in these ratchet straps, and she was under a tree between a chicken coop and tall grass,” Drake said of the victim. He noted that scarring on the child’s body indicated previous instances of being restrained.
The child is currently in the custody of Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services, the state’s child welfare agency. Drake said DNA testing confirmed James as the child’s biological father.
Drake said there was evidence that the child had been abused prior to arriving in Oklahoma. “There is no way there wasn’t some serious child neglect and child abuse going on with these kids down in Breckenridge,” he said.
The case involved multiple children, though Drake could not provide specific details about their current situations due to confidentiality requirements. He did confirm that the children are not in Texas now.
The Breckenridge Police Department is also investigating the couple for similar allegations that occurred before they left for Oklahoma. Breckenridge Police Chief Blake Johnson said his department forwarded their case to District Attorney Dee Peavy, who serves both Stephens and Young counties.
“We filed an assault case up here,” Johnson said. “We’d gotten information just before they made that trip to Oklahoma. And so once we, once we got with Oklahoma and found out, hey, there’s enough here. We filed the case on them for an abuse case that happened here in Breckenridge just before they left for Oklahoma.”
He said the case in Breckenridge involved the same child and the same type of abuse including the child being restrained.
Johnson said the local district attorney’s office will determine whether to pursue charges in Breckenridge.
Peavy said her office is reviewing the case and that the lengthy Oklahoma sentences will be a factor in their decision whether or not to pursue charges.
“That’s something we will take into consideration,” she said. “Why would we exert those resources toward something when they’re locked up, actually, for a very, very long time? Because we have a lot of other matters that would take priority over someone who’s going to be incarcerated in Texas or elsewhere.”
She said they will make a decision after reviewing the case.
Click the link below to read the Breckenridge Texan’s Aug. 14, 2024, article on the incident:
