COOKE COUNTY, Texas — A Cooke County man received multiple life sentences on Monday for torturing and sexually abusing children at his home.
A child abuse expert who testified in court said that 38-year-old David Michael Calhoun tortured the children similarly to the way POWs and political prisoners were tortured during the Korean and Vietnam wars, prosecutors said.
Calhoun was convicted of all charges for which he was indicted: five counts of sexual assault of a child, seven counts of aggravated assault and one count of assault strangulation.
The Cooke County District Attorney Office says jury deliberations took less than an hour. The jury delivered a punishment verdict of 10 life sentences, a 10-year sentence, and two 20-year sentences.
The judge ruled five of the sentences to be served consecutively, meaning he will never be released from prison.
"The lasting legacy of this case is that evil will not prevail—even when things seemed hopeless the children were determined to make their story heard," said Eric Erlandson, First Assistant District Attorney for Cooke County.
According to court evidence, the abuse began in 2017 after Calhoun began caring for his nephews and stepchildren at his home in Moss Lake, Texas in northern Cooke County. The abuse took place in several East Texas cities, court documents stated, including Harleton, Jefferson and Athens.
“The prolonged period of torture that the defendant put the children through in this case is the worst abuse that I have ever seen,” said Erlandson. “The mental, psychological, and physical torture that they endured for the better part of six years in unimaginable.
Two other defendants have been indicted because of their connection to the case. A pre-trial in Cooke County is set in April.
