Archives for March 2013

Clarendon’s Christ’s Kids Outreach Ministry dedicated their new home to God on Sunday, March 3, with prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

The ministry is now located at 416 South Kearney and is open to all the kids of Clarendon. Eighteen friends and faithful citizens from the community came to be a part of the dedication representing Clarendon’s outpouring of support for the work being done through the ministries.

The dedication was opened with words of gratitude to supporters and prayer by Steve Carter. Then praise songs were lead by Christ’s Kid Jaqueda Harris; Bunk Skelton, pastor of the newly formed Arena of Life Cowboy Church in Clarendon; and Guy Ellis with his daughters Brandilyn and Brenna Ellis.

An inspiration message of thanks to God for the ministry’s new home and prayer was then given by Guy Ellis with the closing prayer of the dedication by Steve Carter. A time of fellowship and refreshments was then enjoyed by all.

Christ’s Kids Outreach Ministry wishes to extend humble gratitude to all in the community for the prayers and support given on behalf of the kids who receive the love of Jesus through this work. God bless you.

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

A Clarendon man is being held under maximum security this week after escaping from the Donley County Jail and leading lawmen on a chase into Pampa last week.

Torrence Eugene Smith (a.k.a. Torrence Brown), age 40, was schedule to be arraigned this week on a first degree felony escape charge as well as unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said Smith overpowered a jailer, threw her down, took her keys, locked her in the jail, and then stole her car.

During the assault, the jailer was able to activate her panic button which alerted the sheriff and deputies that assistance was needed. Blackburn said the panic system has been activated in the past, usually by accident. But he realized immediately that this time was different.

“I knew when she didn’t answer the radio that we had a problem and that it was probably Torrence,” Blackburn said.

Smith had already run from lawmen when they tried to arrest him last month for seven counts of forgery. He got away that time but was subsequently picked up on February 18 with the additional charge of evading arrest.

After the escape, the jailer soon found her radio that had been lost when Smith attacked her and radioed that she was okay and that Smith was in her silver Pontiac Grand Am. Deputies Robert Douglas and Sonny Morasco and Sheriff Blackburn arrived at the jail as all available lawmen began watching for the escapee.

“We were very fortunate that it happened that there was an officer in every direction from Clarendon, and neighboring counties began watching the major highways immediately,” Blackburn said.

Paramedic and part-time jailer Heather King met a silver Grand Am going north on State Highway 70 at the Salt Fork Bridge, and the Howardwick Volunteer Fire Department stationed at Rick Husband Blvd. on Hwy. 70 confirmed that same car was being driven by a man matching Smith’s description.

A Gray County deputy then met Smith near Jericho, and Blackburn said the chase officially started at that time with Smith running up to 105 mph.

Gray County officials tried to spike Smith’s vehicle twice on Hwy. 70 between I-40 and Pampa, but he avoided the spikes both times and entered the City of Pampa at speeds of 85 to 90 mph in town. Pampa Police, Gray County deputies, and Donley County officers were all in pursuit as Smith went onto side streets with what Blackburn described as a “total disregard for human safety.”

“There were people in their yards and children playing,” the sheriff said. “Someone could have been hurt or killed.”

Blackburn said Donley County Deputy Morasco had previously worked in Pampa; was familiar with the streets there; and when radio traffic said Smith had gone down a particular alley, the deputy knew just where he would be coming out. Smith tried to avoid the deputy, but Morasco rammed his patrol truck into the subject’s vehicle, pinning it to the curb. He then subdued the escapee who attempted to flee on foot.

“Deputy Morasco did an excellent job of ending the pursuit,” Blackburn said. “No bystanders got hurt, and no cars were wrecked other than what should have.”

Smith was treated for minor injuries at a Pampa hospital before being transported back to the Donley County Jail.

Blackburn said Smith is now not allowed out of his cell unless escorted by two law enforcement officials and he will continue to be held under maximum security conditions and considered a high escape risk for the duration of his stay in the Donley County Jail.

A Collingsworth County jury last Wednesday, March 6, found 62-year-old Ernest Glenn Benton guilty of the first degree felony offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child, under the age of fourteen, and the second degree felony offense of indecency with a child under seventeen.

At the conclusion of the two-day jury trial, the jury sentenced Benton to life imprisonment on both cases in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

District Attorney Luke Inman prosecuted the case for the State of Texas with the Honorable Judge Richard Dambold presiding, by assignment.

Benton, a 62-year-old Wellington resident, was arrested by the Collingsworth County Sheriff’s Department on April 26, 2012.

Benton was later indicted by a Collingsworth County Grand Jury on June 27, 2012 for the first degree offense and second degree felony offense.

Benton was one of two defendants convicted of aggravated sexual assault against this victim in Collingsworth County for the offense that occurred on the same date.

Bryan Keith Price of Hedley, the victim’s biological father, was found guilty of a similar first degree felony offense of aggravated sexual assault in Collingsworth County and convicted to life imprisonment on January 17, 2013.

During the State’s case in chief against Benton, the State called seven witnesses.

Testimony was provided by the victim to the present offense, Childress Independent School District Counselor Sherry Davis, Childress County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Danny Gillem, Donley County Sheriff Charles “Butch” Blackburn, Collingsworth County Deputy Kent Riley, Ian Diaz with the Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center, and Becky O’Neal, the coordinator for the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners at Northwest Texas Hospital.

“We were fortunate to have a victim who was willing to face these two men in court and both received the maximum punishment after they were convicted,” said Inman. “We could not have received the punishment that we were asking for without her support and cooperation over the past year.”

The facts presented in both cases established that the victim’s father, Price, brought her to Wellington on or about April 14, 2012, when he allowed Benton to sexually assault her in Benton’s own home, according to Inman.

On Wednesday morning, the jury convicted the defendant of the first degree felony offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child and the second degree felony offense of indecency with a child.

The second degree felony, as well as the first degree offense, were both enhanced to a 25-year minimum punishment range due to Benton’s previous felony convictions.

Benton had been previously convicted of four felony offenses, including on conviction for an attempt to commit a sexual assault. The jury sentenced Benton to life imprisonment on both charges.

“The convictions of both defendants were the direct result of the joint investigations conducted by the Childress, Donley, and Collingsworth sheriffs’ offices after the victim made the outcry of the sexual abuse,” Inman said.