XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.law-enforcement, alt.politics.democrats   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   From: vacancy@kamala.harris   
      
   Eric McGowen, 20, sentenced to 99 years' prison after being convicted of   
   aggravated sexual assault of a child   
   Girl was gang-raped repeatedly two years ago in Cleveland, Texas   
   McGowen admitted raping her with eight others, sometimes two at a time   
   Escaped during afternoon break on Wednesday and not been seen since   
   Man 'should be considered armed and dangerous,' police said   
   Girl broke down during video showing her having anal sex with attackers,   
   jurors turned away   
   Said in one attack she was 'probably' assaulted by all 20 males over 10 hours   
      
   Eric McGowen has been sentenced to 99 years in prison after a jury found him   
   guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child in the first trial stemming   
   from the horrific gang-rape of a Texas 11-year-old -- but the 20-year-old is   
   still missing after    
   brazenly escaping from court yesterday.   
      
   McGowen hasn't been seen since he vanished during a break in proceedings on   
   Wednesday afternoon and the Liberty County Sheriff's Office had no update on   
   his whereabouts today.   
      
   But Judge Mark Morefield chose to push ahead with the trial without the   
   defendant, calling the remaining witnesses. Jurors deliberated for just 20   
   minutes before finding the missing man guilty and after another 30 minutes   
   they had decided his sentence.   
      
   https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/08/29/article-2195367-14BD4   
   F2000005DC-171_634x485.jpg   
      
   McGowen was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child and faces up to   
   life in prison for his part in the shocking attacks, which saw the girl, now   
   13, gang-raped by 20 men and boys on multiple occasions in an abandoned   
   trailer.   
      
   His lawyer didn’t present any evidence or call witnesses.   
      
   McGowen is one of 14 adults accused of having sex with the girl. Six boys also   
   are charged in the case.   
      
   One of the last witnesses to be called was forensic nurse examiner, Ashley   
   Huyah, who interviewed and examined the girl after she suffered a   
   gut-wrenching gang-rape in November 2010.   
      
   Huynh testified that the girl said she had sex with at least four males,   
   including McGowen. The nurse said knee abrasions were only physical evidence   
   she found when examining the girl.   
      
   Jennifer Pollock, a DNA expert with Texas Department of Public Safety crime   
   lab in Houston, was the final witness for the prosecution.   
      
   Pollock said she examined evidence at a scene where the girl was allegedly   
   attacked and could only conclude that McGowen can’t be excluded as a   
   contributor to the DNA that was analysed.   
      
   Liberty County sheriff's Capt. Steve Greene said courthouse security wasn't   
   required to follow McGowen when he fled the courtroom yesterday because he was   
   out on bail.   
      
   Greene said the sheriff's office was notified by the court bailiff when the   
   defendant didn't return after the afternoon coffee break. He warned that   
   McGowen should be considered armed and dangerous.   
      
   Judge Morefield yesterday issued a warrant for McGowen's arrest and hiked the   
   man's bail from $35,000 to $250,000.   
      
   Prosecutors and defense attorneys huddled briefly with the judge in front of   
   his bench when the defendant, who was wearing a white shirt, jeans and tennis   
   shoes, vanished after sitting through the bulk of the day's proceedings,   
   including his victim's    
   testimony.   
      
   McGowen's attorney Matthew Poston and prosecutors did not comment on McGowen's   
   disappearance because of a gag order, though Poston said he thought his client   
   was in the bathroom when he didn't return to his seat.   
      
   The judge then told jurors the trial would go on without him.   
      
   Before McGowen's brazen escape, the victim broke down in court as she watched   
   a video of one of the painful attacks.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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