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March 12, 2009

Hearing set for convicted businessman

DA’s Office will argue for the revocation of Cook’s probation

By Art Lawler Staff Writer

The District Attorney’s Office took the first step to having the probation of a Gun Barrel City businessman revoked.

A status hearing for Curtis Cook was held on Thursday morning before 173rd District Judge Dan Moore.

Henderson County District Attorney Scott McKee is handling the case for the state, and Scott Williams was appointed this week as Cook’s defense attorney.

Judge Moore, after listening to both attorneys, set a hearing for April 16 at 9 a.m.

Cook, 59, was picked up by GBC police on warrant for probation violations on Feb. 6. The warrant was for failure to register as a sex offender after a change of address.

Cook is accused of not reporting a move from Kemp to GBC. Terms of his probation require him to re-register every time he moves from one address to another for the rest of his life.

Cook was placed on probation last year for aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Cook, a Gun Barrel City optician, pled guilty to sexually assaulting a child younger than 14 years of age.

He was given deferred adjudication and a 10-year probated sentence at the time.

Cook admitted the sexual assault allegations against him in exchange for the deferred adjudication ruling.

At the April hearing, McKee will introduce evidence to support the allegations made in the state’s motion to adjudicate.

“We will allege the defendant violated certain terms of his probation,” McKee said. “We have to prove one, or more, of those allegations. If the judge adjudicates him, he can then find him guilty. If he does, he’ll be sentenced to a term in the state penitentiary for a length of time to be determined by the judge.”

That prison term, according to law, could be anywhere from five to 99 years.

Williams said the state is alleging in its motion to revoke the deferred adjudication ruling.

“At this juncture I have some questions as to whether the allegations are true, and so our intent is to defend vigorously the allegations that have been made against him,” Williams said.

Cook is just one of several sex offenders who have been confronted by McKee and new county Sheriff Ray Nutt.

Jerry Don Wilson, of Eustace, was arrested on March 9 for failure to register as a sex offender.

Last Thursday, an arrest was made in Eustace for a Bay City man, Michael Keith Luera, for violating probation of a child sexual assault conviction.

Judge Moore revoked Luera’s probation for indecency with a child, and Luera was sentenced to four years in prison.

“This is a new administration, and we are not going to tolerate child predators in our community,” Assistant District Attorney Lenda Burnett said at the time. “I hope this sends a message to offenders that our office is working closely with the probation department to identify and prosecute those who are not complying with their court-ordered conditions.”

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