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The Texas man facing capital murder charges in connection with the discovery of the body of a missing 11-year-old girl has a violent criminal history and was previously accused of sex crimes involving 11-year-old boys. He was serving a sentence for seducing a man. 1-year-old baby girl in 2007, court records obtained by the USA TODAY Wednesday program.
Don Stephen McDougall, 42, was likely the last person to see Audrey Cunningham alive before she disappeared from a small Texas town on the morning of February 15, authorities said this week. did.
McDowell County Sheriff Byron Lyons said McDougal was planning to drop off Audrey Cunningham on a school bus when she disappeared in Livingston, about 110 miles northeast of Houston.
After a five-day search, Cunningham’s body was found in the river on Tuesday, the sheriff’s office announced at a news conference.
At a news conference Tuesday night, McDowell County District Attorney Sherry Sitton said law enforcement is preparing “appropriate arrest warrants” to charge McDougal in connection with Audrey’s death. Ta. The sheriff said McDougall was likely the last person to see the girl alive.
McDougall remained jailed in Polk County on Wednesday after being arrested on Friday on an unrelated felony charge of aggravated assault. On Wednesday, jail records showed an additional charge had been added to McDougall’s preliminary examination ticket: capital murder.
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McDougal was previously convicted of seducing an 11-year-old girl.
McDougal previously was convicted of two counts of child enticement and spent time in prison, according to state and court records obtained by USA TODAY. The latest incarceration is one of seven that McDougal has served in Texas since the early 2000s, according to information from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
In 2008, McDougal pleaded no contest to two felonies stemming from an incident involving an 11-year-old girl in Brazoria County, south of Houston.
According to a March 31, 2007 crime report, McDougall was charged with a child sexual offense after a Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy wrote that he was “dispatched to his residence in connection with a past sexual assault.” He was arrested on a felony charge of indecency. ”
The man told Deputy McDougal that he “got into bed with my niece,” who was 11 years old at the time, and “tried to take her pants off” at his home, according to the report.
Deputies later met with the girl’s mother and wrote that her daughter reported that after McDougall got into bed with her, he tried to take off her daughter’s pants and told the girl he called her “ex-wife’s name.” Ta.
McDougal was scheduled to go to trial on child molestation charges in June 2008, but he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge in September 2008, according to court records.
He was sentenced to two years in prison for that charge, records show.
Under Texas law, a person commits the crime of seducing a child if he or she knowingly seduces, persuades, or removes the child from a parent or parental custody with the intent to interfere with the lawful custody of a child under 18. It is regarded. Guardian. ”
USA TODAY reached out to the attorney who represented McDougall in the child attraction case.
Mr. McDougal was also sentenced to three years in prison in 2003 for aggravated assault on a public servant in Liberty County and four years in 2010 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Harris County, home to Houston.
Most recently, he was released from prison in September 2022 after completing a two-year sentence for unauthorized use of a vehicle out of Liberty County. Records show he was convicted of the same crime in Harris County in July 2009 and served time in prison.
Information about Mr. McDougall’s attorney is not immediately available.
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McDougall’s connection to the Cunningham family
As the search for Cunningham intensified, Lyons told reporters that McDougal lived in a mobile home on the family’s property and would sometimes take the girl to the bus stop or school if she missed the bus. .
Investigators said they believe McDougall’s dark blue 2003 Chevrolet Suburban was involved in her disappearance.
body found underwater
At a news conference Tuesday night, the sheriff’s office said Avril’s body was found in the Trinity River off Route 59, Lyons said.
“I am heartbroken by this news,” Lyons told reporters when announcing the tragic discovery. “We extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to everyone who knew, cared for, and loved Audrey. We will continue to process the evidence we have collected to ensure justice for Audrey.”
The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office in Houston is conducting an autopsy to determine the girl’s cause of death, Lyons said.
Contributor: Amaris Encinas, america today; Fernanda Figueroa, American politician from Austin
Natalie Neisa Alland is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at X @nataliealund.
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