By Parker Perry
McAlester News-Capital
MCALESTER, Okla. — A 48-year-old convicted rapist was allowed to meet with his 16-year-old victim in the Haskell County Courthouse even though he was under the supervision of law enforcement at the time, a News-Capital investigation has confirmed.
The meeting between Jimmy Culley, 48, and his teenaged victim also took place despite the issuance of a no contact order by a judge in the case.
The meeting between Culley and his victim took place sometime between Feb. 13 to Feb. 25 at the courthouse in Stigler in the state witness room — a location that is supposed to be closely monitored. Culley was in the custody of the Haskell County Sheriff’s Office at the time, waiting to testify against his victim’s mother in a related criminal trial.
As Culley waited to testify, he met with both the teen he raped when she was just 14 and the baby he fathered in the crime. The teen took photos of the encounter, and the photos were obtained by the News-Capital.
A May 26 hearing on the matter is now scheduled in front of Haskell County Associate District Judge Brian Henderson. District 18 District Judge James Bland previously issued an order preventing Culley from having any contact with the teen.
According to court records accessed by the News-Capital, a defense attorney for the girl’s mother, Cyndi Jones, contends the meeting between Culley and the victim was okayed by the District 18 District Attorney’s Office as part of a deal for Culley’s testimony against Jones. Jones was subsequently tried and convicted of of enabling child sexual abuse.
District 18 Assistant District Attorney Danita Williams, who prosecuted Jones, said it is not true that prosecutors helped facilitate the meeting.
“I can tell you that false allegations have been made against me,” Williams said. “I can tell you that I have retained an attorney to remedy what I believe the situation is in regards to liable, slander and defamation of character. I have been an attorney for 22 years. I have not broken the law or committed the allegations that have been made that I am aware of.”
The News-Capital asked Williams earlier if the rapist-victim meeting was a part of any deal for testimony.
“No way,” Williams said.
Williams’ boss, District 18 District Attorney Farley Ward, said there is a reasonable explanation as to why the rapist was able to meet with the victim in the case. However, he would not say what the explanation is.
Ward told the News-Capital this week a hearing surrounding the two pictures will take place May 26.
“It’s going to be addressed in court,” Ward said.
Ward said he did not see the photo of Culley and his victim until a reporter showed it to him. He said Williams had given him an “explanation” that would settle any concerns.
What is the explanation?
“I’m not going to tell you that,” Ward told a reporter. “You can learn it during the hearing (on May 26).”
Williams was reached by cellphone the next morning. She said she was told by Ward not to discuss the photos because there are children in the pictures.
“They contain minors,” Williams said of the photos. “That’s the part that Farley and I discussed, because the children are part of this, we are not at liberty to discuss this in public. We do not feel it is a public issue.”
A complex case of sexual abuse
Culley pleaded guilty to five counts of rape in the second degree in December 2013. The victim of the assaults was the teenage girl depicted in the photos. The relationship between Culley and the then 14-year-old girl lasted from October 2012 to April 2013 and took place in the Piney Creek area of Pittsburg County.
Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Deputy Glen Lovin wrote an affidavit in the case. He said he was told by a neighbor Culley was not the only male who had assaulted the victim. He was told the girl told the witness her mother, Cyndie Jones, 33, was “pimping her out.” After a police investigation, another man, Robert Bond, 24, of Keota, was charged in November 2013 with six counts of rape in the first degree in Haskell County District Court.
Those incidents were alleged to occur between the dates Dec. 31, 2011 and May 31, 2012. The victim would have been only 13 years old.
Charges in Bond’s case are still pending.
Jones, meanwhile — the mother of the teenaged girl — faced a felony charge of enabling child sexual abuse in both Pittsburg and Haskell counties.The Pittsburg County charge stemmed from her daughter’s interaction with Culley. The Haskell County charges for the alleged sexual encounters with Bond.
Jones was tried in Pittsburg County in January 2014, but a jury was unable to reach a verdict. Pittsburg County District Judge James Bland declared a mistrial. That charge against Jones was later dismissed.
But, Jones still faced an identical charge in Haskell County. A jury convicted Jones of enabling child sexual abuse in February of this year, leading to a sentence of 18 years in prison.
Jones’ defense attorney Roger Hilfiger, suspects the meeting between Culley and the rape victim unfolded as Culley was in the courthouse to appear during Jones’ trial.
Culley — who is serving 20 years in state prison — was in the custody of the Haskell County Sheriff Offfice between Feb. 13 through Feb. 25, which is the same time frame Jones was on trial in Haskell County. Haskell County Sheriff Brian Hale originally told the News-Capital he would find out how the meeting was allowed to happen. Weeks later, he said he was not able find who was the guard responsible for transporting Culley to and from the courthouse.
He said there is no log and that he has asked around the office but cannot find any information.
Family reaction
Donna Cassidy is the grandmother of Culley’s victim. She received a subpoena calling for her granddaughter, the victim, to come to court to testify in her mother’s trial in Haskell County around the time of the teen’s meeting with Culley.
“We, being her guardians, were asked to bring her to court,” Cassidy said of her and her husband.
Cassidy said her husband was the one who took the teen from Oklahoma City to Stigler. Cassidy said she was bothered the meeting was allowed to happen and she was unaware of pictures of Culley with his victim until a reporter told her about them.
“As far as I am concerned, (Jimmy Culley) is a pedophile,” Cassidy said. “I don’t like that (the meeting) happened because I think it confuses (the victim). (My granddaughter) is my concern.”
The grandmother said her granddaughter is still dealing with feelings for Culley.
Cassidy said despite a no-contact order issued by Bland when the sex-offender pleaded, Culley finds a way to send mail to the victim.
“Any mail that I find in my mailbox from him I throw away,” Cassidy said. “I disconnect her phone to prevent her from contacting or preventing him from contacting her.”
Protecting victims
A McAlester-based clinical psychologist, Shalom Palacio-Hollmon, said allowing a victim of child sexual abuse to meet with their offender under such circumstances is a terrible idea. Palacio-Hollmon used to work for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. She said there are a variety of social and psychological issues a person who is sexually abused can suffer from, such as symptoms that relate to post traumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, and others.
Continued contact between the offender and victim can be devastating to a victim, she said.
“Repeated exposure to an abuser can be traumatizing to victims,” Palacio-Hollmon said. “It reactivates the abuse.”
Palacio-Hollman said the meeting between Culley and the victim was “absolutely not” a good idea.
“It is important (for the victim to be) protected from herself and from her potential abuser.”