Former Arlington man who played sex games with preteen girl sent to prison for life without parole

A former Arlington man who repeatedly sexually abused two pre-teen sisters - and played sex games with one of them - has been sentenced to 99 years in prison without parole.

Charles Samuel Burgess II, 65, most recently of Norman, Okla., abused the girls - who were relatives -  when they took "birthday trips" to his house in Arlington, according to prosecutor Bill Vassar, who tried the case with Heather Davenport.

The oldest girl, who was abused in 2010 and 2011 when she visited Burgess' home for her 11th and 12th birthdays, testified that she received her first kiss from Burgess. The younger girl, who was abused in August 2010 while celebrating her 10th birthday, told jurors she played "Strip Connect Four" with Burgess, according to the Tarrant County district attorney's office.

"When you steal a 12-year-old relative's first kiss and play 'Strip Connect Four' with her 11-year-old sister, you have pretty much punched your ticket," Vassar said, in a written statement.

A jury in state District Judge George Gallagher's court convicted Burgess last week of one count of continous sexual abuse of a child and one count of indecency. The jury sentenced him to the maximum of 99 years for continuous abuse and 20 years for indecency.

A person convicted for continous sexual abuse of a child is not eligible for parole under a state statute known as "Jessica's Law," which was named for a girl who was kidnapped, raped and killed by a registered sex offender.

 Burgess' attorney, Kobby T. Warren, said his client insisted he did not assault the girls.

"He always maintained his innocence," Warren said. "He was extremely surprised, shocked, even disappointed" by the jury's decision.

-Dianna Hunt

Comments

[Keith Richard Radford Jr]

End Sex Laws Now!

[Keith Richard Radford Jr]

Would it have been more appropriate had he been giving them a bath when they were his to take guardianship of? I am so sorry for America as sex laws are going to be the downfall of a nation.

[confused]

It is not a game. To even call any form of adult on child sexual abuse a 'game' denies the damage. These girls deserved better and they were denied that innocence. That is never a game. To all abuse victims, we need to stand up and be heard. This is not a game. This is our entire life. Abusers, you have no idea what you are doing, do you.

[Potential Juror]

I had the privilege of serving on jury duty for the first time. I was a potential juror for this case. Although I was not selected as a juror, I did follow the case online. It is both disturbing and gratifying to read this article. I don't believe abusers like this deserve prison. They deserve the death penalty in my opinion. Although I am sure there are many people that are glad Burgess is behind bars, he is also wasting yours and my tax dollars keeping him alive.

[John Q]

Another pervert off the streets. I hope the prison queens break him in quick and painful.

[Ringwraith1of9]

@ Keith Richard Radford Jr - What?I don't understand you're comments above,"sex laws are going to be the downfall of a nation""End Sex Laws Now!"?Am I missing something?I don't want to fly off the handle here in case I am missing something,but I believe people like this have ZERO place in our society and forfeit their rights to freedom in cases like this,if not their lives.Are you a convicted sex criminal or the relative of one?If so,same applies to you,no place in free society.
As I said if I am missing something,please explain your comments.Otherwise,hats-off to the judge and jurors for a job welldone.

[Tim]

99 years and the man didn't even have sex with them!?! I'm glad I don't have kids; the US might throw me in prison if I accidently walk into a room while my daughter's taking a bath.

[Alma Gutierrez]

Good job jury! We need to send all these freaks to jail for 99 years! So hats off to this jury for standing up for all of our kids that deserve to be safe.

[D]

This piece of scat will have sooo much fun with his new cell mates in prison.

[Jtrain63]

You people don't understand. When these pervs go to prison, they go into a system that is infested with thousands upoun thousands of inmates just like them.There are GANGS of these predators. It isn't like the old days where they have to hide they're reason of conviction in fear of getting what they deserve. Now, at least in TX, they have prison units specically for these types.

[jj]

Was this law created by the same people who made it illegal to look at pictures of young girls in tiny swim suits, but PERFECTLY NORMAL to look at full-frontal nude boys in National Geographics?

[uh]

There are primarily two types of men who "abuse" children. The first are those who get off on the power and hurting the child. The second are those who feel "love" towards the child and imagine/believe that the child loves them. The first should be segregated from the population. The second can usually be helped by psychiatric treatment and (as a rule) do not pose a further threat to the citizenry. There is also the third type (the ones most often facing prosecution) who would never attempt to physically touch a child but get sexual satisfaction from fantasies about them and looking at photos of nude children. Just as with drugs, sexual "crimes" are punished randomly by varying jurisdictions and judges. This man faces life in prison, another man in Connecticut (who happened to be a mayor) was convicted of improper "touching" after paying the mother of two girls to have sex with them. People are all too willing to send a person to jail for years upon years costing us billions of dollars when most could be made productive and safe through re-hab and counselling.