Ogg's Office Botches Another Child Sex Assault Case

“Grandpa Jack” spent five years in prison in the early 2000s for sexually assaulting two young children—a six year-old girl and a four year-old boy. Yet, prison doesn’t seem to have done much good for Grandpa Jack. 

In 2018, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office secured a new indictment of Grandpa Jack, this time on charges of “super-aggravated sexual assault of a child under six years of age.” Specifically, the indictment alleged that Grandpa Jack “intentionally and knowingly caused the sexual organ of a child younger than six years of age … to contact the sexual organ of the defendant.” 

Here is a summary of the allegations as recorded by Kimberly Thomas, who is a law enforcement officer and investigator with the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, from a court document obtained by Houston Watch:

“During the interview complainant [child] stated her Grandpa Jack was humping [her grandmother] and humping [the child]. The forensic interviewer asked what humping means. [The child] said Jack got on top of her and [her grandmother] and humped them. [The child]  said Papa Jack humped them with his “thingy” which is used for humping and to go to the bathroom. The interviewer showed [the child] two anatomically correct dolls, one male and one female. [The child] said they needed another female doll to play [her grandmother]. [The child]  said all 3 of them were in bed together. Using the dolls, [the child] described Grandpa Jack getting on top of [her grandmother], and then getting on top of [the child]. She said he humped both of them. Using the dolls, [the child] demonstrated that Grandpa Jack’s penis contacted [the child]’s vagina, which she referred to her as ‘gina.’ She said they weren’t wearing any clothing and that Grandpa Jack’s thingy felt itchy on her. She said that he put his thingy in her mouth and that white stuff came out. She said this happened a lot of times. She said [her grandmother] watched Grandpa Jack do this to [the child]. and told [the child]. if it was a secret. She said Grandpa Jack asked her if it felt good.”

The young girl’s grandmother, who was her legal custodian at the time, said that the grand-daughter told her that Grandpa Jack “put his penis in [the child]’s mouth and ejaculated inside her mouth. She said he would ejaculate all over her head and hair.” According to the grandmother, the girl had also told her mother that on a separate occasion, Grandpa Jack had “touched her vagina on the swing.” The grandmother characterized the relationship between Grandpa Jack and the young girl by saying that she “was like a toy to him”.

Why are we writing about a case indicted in 2018? 

Under Kim Ogg’s leadership, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office isn’t known for speed. It often takes far longer for serious cases like murders and rapes to reach trial in Harris County than in other large jurisdictions, a fact that an independent auditor attributed partly to Ogg’s policy of prosecuting extremely low-level cases, which clogs the docket and prevents serious cases from getting trial dates. 

Hence, this case finally headed to trial—five years after the grand jury returned the indictment—earlier this month. As the court docket below reflects, jury selection began in the case on March 2. 

By March 6th, however, the case was over—not because the state secured a conviction, but rather because prosecutors dismissed the case before opening arguments commenced. It’s been over a week since the dismissal, and Ogg’s office has not publicly commented on their failure to obtain a conviction in the case.

If there is one priority above all others for an elected District Attorney, it is to ensure that child sex predators are off the streets. Instead, after five years of allowing the case to linger, Ogg’s office decided to just drop it. So, if your child has the misfortune of meeting “Grandpa Jack” now that he’s back in the community, make sure to thank Kim Ogg.