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Texas Teen Allegedly Filmed Sexual Abuse Of Young Children

By Chelsea Hoffman
Published on: 16:20 PST, Jul 8, 2016

A Texas teen has been jailed after authorities reportedly uncovered evidence of sexual abuse on at least two young children. KWTX News reports that 17-year-old Donnie Wayne Howard has been charged in association with a series of incidents that allegedly left a young girl and a young boy violated and exploited.

Authorities in McLennan County say that Donnie Wayne Howard sexually abused two children — an 8-year-old boy, and a 6-year-old girl. The incidents reportedly took place in April. The Texas teen allegedly took multiple pornographic photos of the 6-year-old female victim. My San Antonio reports that the 17-year-old also filmed himself participating in sexual acts with the young girl. He is also accused of sexually assaulting the 8-year-old male victim, and filming at least two encounters with him as well.

Donnie Wayne Howard not only allegedly filmed these sexual assaults, but police say he was also brazen enough to share the evidence on social media. The Texas teen allegedly shared images and video of the sexual assaults to a friend on the popular chat app KIK. However, authorities have confirmed that the investigation is continuing, which will determine whether or not the teen sent the photos and videos to other people. As the investigation continues, there could be more arrests in association with the crimes Donnie Wayne Howard is accused of committing.

Authorities in Central Texas have also revealed that the teen’s mother, 37-year-old Shauna Hope Gerrish, tried to cover up the crimes by deleting evidence from his cellphone. The Texas teen’s mother has been charged with two counts of evidence tampering. In the state of Texas, these two charges could come with a prison sentence, because they are considered felonies.

Sadly, this isn’t the only time a mother has allegedly tried to cover up crimes committed by her children. In 2014, a Michigan woman allegedly helped cover for her son, who is accused of killing his own wife. Last year, a Washington mom was arrested when authorities determined that she had tried to cover for her boyfriend — who had allegedly tortured her 18-year-old autistic son to death. This year, authorities claimed that a Pennsylvania man had raped his little sister, who was only 13 years old. To make things worse for the teenage victim, her mother told her not to report the alleged sexual assault.

When Texas teen Donnie Wayne Howard was arrested earlier this year, he was originally held on bond in the amount or more than $1 million. However, after his indictment this week, his bond has appeared to drop to approximately $600k. Meanwhile, another teen in the Lonestar State is currently on trial for sexually assaulting children. Authorities say that 17-year-old Zachary Holifield repeatedly molested a 5-year-old girl earlier this year.

Also this year, a 15-year-old Texas teen was arrested after his girlfriend was found dead after a brief disappearance. The teen has not been named in reports, but he is accused of raping his own teenage girlfriend while strangling her to death. He also allegedly recorded the horrifying incident on his cellphone. When the teen was finished, he allegedly stuffed the teen’s dead body under a kitchen sink in an abandoned apartment building.

Texas teen Donnie Wayne Howard has been indicted on charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child. Since he is under the age of 18 years old, it’s hard to tell what the outcome of his trial may be — especially since the investigation isn’t yet complete. While reports specifically mention his indictment surrounding sexual abuse charges, no reports have specified whether or not he will go to trial on charges of exploitation of his alleged victims and possession of child pornography.

[Photo via McLennan County Jail]

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