After deliberating less than 15 minutes, an Ector County jury Wednesday found an Odessa man guilty of repeatedly raping a little girl during a three-year period.
Gary Landreth, 65, was convicted of four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count each of continuous sexual abuse of a child and human trafficking.
It took a jury less than 10 minutes to give Landreth six life sentences. He could have received from 25-99 years on five of the counts and 5-99 years on the human trafficking count. Judge Denn Whalen of the 70th District Court opted to run four of the sentences consecutive to one another. The other two will run concurrently.
Landreth and the child’s mother, Shirley Harmon, were arrested in January 2019 after the then-5-year-old girl told investigators for the second time in two years that she’d been repeatedly sexually assaulted by Landreth.
Investigators didn’t have enough evidence to arrest Landreth in 2017, but they arrested him in 2019 when a physical examination revealed the girl had been repeatedly raped and sodomized. They arrested Harmon because she’d admitted to accepting money from Landreth so he could have access to the girl.
Landreth testified Wednesday morning he met Harmon through her mother, Nancy Blaylock, at church. Within a matter of weeks, Landreth said he began babysitting Harmon’s infant son and within a matter of months, Harmon, the boy and the boy’s father had moved in with him.
The original arrangement was for Harmon and the boyfriend to pay him $300 a month, but when the boyfriend eventually moved out following the birth of Harmon’s daughter by another man, he allowed them to stay rent free, Landreth said. Eventually, Harmon had a third child and she and that child’s father moved out, but the older two children continued to spend 80% of their time with him, although they’d visit their mother and grandmother occasionally, Landreth said.
He supported the children using money from his disability check and rent from people who lived in other homes on his property, Landreth said. Their mother provided some of the food for her children using food stamps.
Landreth testified that although he was once married, he and his much older wife were unable to “produce” any children. Since he’d never had relations with any other woman, he was childless and loved to baby sit. Years earlier, he said he’d informally adopted a 12-year-old and raised him for five years.
The native Odessan told jurors he would never have sex with young children because it could kill them. He also explained he believes young girls have a barrier that is broken during their first sexual experience and he wouldn’t want to disappoint anyone who would be expecting a virgin on their wedding night.
He has no explanation for why the girl showed such traumatic injuries, but he said he “knows for a fact” he wasn’t responsible. Landreth told jurors he believes Harmon’s mother coached the girl to say he sexually assaulted her because Blaylock was angry at him because she believed he was interfering with her relationship with the girl and her older brother.
Blaylock was continually trying to interfere in his relationship with the children, Landreth said.
“I told (Shirley) I’d give her $200 a month to keep her mother out of our business,” Landreth testified.
He insisted he did not give Harmon money to have sex with the girl.
“Why would I pay for something I had free access to the entirety of their whole lives,” Landreth said.
Assistant Ector County District Attorneys Rikki Earnest and Kortney Williams said the evidence clearly showed Landreth was guilty and reminded them of the many statements the girl gave forensic interviewers, the diagrams she drew on and her injuries.
Defense attorney Michael McLeaish said there’s no doubt the girl was the victim of horrendous abuse, but the question is whether Landreth committed it.
He pointed out that following the 2017 investigation, the lead detective on the case wrote in his report that he thought the girl had been coached on what to say. McLeaish asked the jury if it was possible she was coached again in 2019.
“He loved that little girl. He loved that little boy. He gave them a home, someplace to live and somehow that’s been perverted into the situation he’s in,” McLeaish said.
They could well send an innocent man to prison, McLeaish said.
“How many times does (the girl) have to say ‘Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary’? Is it 10 times, is it 100 times?” Williams asked. “She was not coached. She was not confused. She said it again and again and again.”
The girl clearly did not Google sex acts so she could imitate them during her forensic interviews and she didn’t consciously decide to exhibit highly sexual behavior during the interviews, either, Williams said.
“Gary was right when he said he’d only been with one woman because the other person he’s been with was that little girl,” Williams said, pointing to a picture of the child.
She was telling the truth in 2017 and she was telling the truth in 2019, Williams said.
Believe the evidence because “it’s the truth,” Williams urged the jury.
Harmon, 40, pleaded guilty to the abandonment/endangerment charge and agreed to testify against Landreth in exchange for having two other charges dismissed, continuous sexual assault of a child and human trafficking.
Harmon gave contradictory testimony to Williams and McLeaish about the $400 she said she received from Landreth. She said the money was “just for the kids to go over there,” but she also said the money was so Landreth could have sex with her daughter.
Sexual assault nurse examiners Tela Whitley and Lisa Montoya, testified Tuesday the injuries sustained by the child were among the worst they’ve ever seen, could not have been the result of childhood accidents.
During the sentencing portion of the trial, the girl’s adoptive mother, Jennifer Mishler, testified that when she first began fostering her, she had no sense of identity. She had no opinion, no likes or dislikes and no creativity. She couldn’t be alone, couldn’t process or express her emotions and would often scream and break things.
A therapist worked for months with the girl on a book describing the abuse and her earlier life. Once finished, the girl had the option of reading it to her new parents or destroying it, Mishler said. The girl opted to destroy it and to begin her life anew.
Nowadays, the girl is a straight A student, loves to sing, has lots of friends and is doted on by her new grandparents and cousins, Mishler said. She’s also a “fantastic” big sister to the foster children they continue to take in.
In asking for the life sentences, Williams said it would not only send a message to the community and Landreth, but it would send a message to the girl as to her worth. One day she’ll get curious as to what happened to the man who raped her and she’ll read about it on the internet, Williams said.
McLeaish told the jurors to “do what you will” since whether Landreth received 25 or 50 years or life, he’ll die in prison.
