Testimony to begin in trial of Waco man accused in sexual assault of child relative

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Testimony is set to begin next week in the trial of a Waco man charged with sexually assaulting an 11-year-old family member almost seven years ago.

Damien Tyrone Adkison, 35, is on trial in Waco’s 19th State District Court on an aggravated sexual assault of a child charge and two counts of indecency with a child by contact.

Prosecutors Will Hix and Tara Avants and defense attorney Darren Obenoskey spent most of Monday selecting jurors to hear the case before Judge Thomas West adjourned them for the day because of weather concerns.

The winter storm forced the courthouse to close and the judge asked jurors to return at 9:15 a.m. Monday, Feb. 6.

Adkison is charged with sexually assaulting a family member in April 2016 and May 2016, but he has not been jailed that whole time. County records show he spent 180 days in jail after his arrest before his bondsman dropped his bail in December 2020. Since then, Adkison has been in jail 776 days waiting for his case to be resolved.

According to search warrant records, Waco police began investigating the girl’s allegations after receiving a referral about the alleged abuse from Child Protective Services workers.

The girl, who complained of stomach pain and burning, reported Adkison came into her room and sexually assaulted her. The girl gave a note she wrote to another family member to a Waco Police Department victims services worker while the girl was being examined at a local hospital. The note told her relative that Adkison sexually assaulted her, a search warrant affidavit states.

The girl’s medical exam revealed “significant findings,” including abrasions, tearing and redness, according to the affidavit.

Adkison denied the allegations and refused an officer’s request for a DNA sample, the affidavit states.

If convicted of aggravated sexual assault, Adkison faces from five to 99 years in prison and up to life in prison. Indecency with a child by contact is punishable by a prison term of from two to 20 years.

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