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Katrina transplant awaits transfer to prison
James Echols
By Dan Eakin, deakin@acnpapers.com
A 38-year-old man who moved to McKinney from New Orleans to escape the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina did not escape the long arm of the law.
James Echols, who last month was sentenced to 99 years in prison on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, remains in the Collin County Detention Center awaiting transfer to Huntsville State Prison.
In last month's trial, which lasted five days, Echols was convicted of having sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl in McKinney on or around June 1, 2006.
Crystal Levonius of the Collin County District Attorney's Office, who prosecuted the case along with Janet Cook, said Echols had been adopted as a young boy several years ago.
Witnesses at the trial testified that the adoptive parents had physically and emotionally abused the victim and her two sisters.
A witness from Child Protective Services said an investigation revealed that the adoptive parents failed to provide clothing, a bed and a restroom for the three girls, who are now ages 15, 17 and 18.
The witness testified that the girls often had to steal food in order to eat, that they had been locked in a room in the home for hours at a time and that the windows in the home were nailed shut.
A McKinney Housing Authority representative testified about the poor living conditions at the home where the adoptive parents lived with the children.
Child Protective Services initially intervened after receiving an anonymous tip about the adoptive parents' physical abuse and neglect of the victims. It was during that investigation that a CPS representative learned of the alleged aggravated sexual assault.
McKinney police then became involved in the investigation and charged Echols with the assault.
The three girls have been removed from the home and placed in foster care.
During the trial, the victim took the stand to testify against the defendant.
During the punishment phase of the trial, two additional family members testified about having been sexually abused by Echols.
Witnesses also testified that the parents were aware of the sexual abuse but did nothing for fear that their own abuse would be discovered and that their monthly stipends would end.
Following a "delayed outcry" from the victim, Echols was first arrested Feb. 16, 2010 in New Orleans and brought to McKinney on March 3, 2010. He bonded out on March 5 of this year and returned to New Orleans. He was arrested again May 19 in New Orleans, after the company that bonded him out filed a motion that his bond be rescinded out of concern that he may not have planned to return to Collin County for trial.
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