Linden man found guilty of child sex offenses

A Cass County jury found Wilburn Elbert Horner, Jr., of Linden, not guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child on Friday--a charge that carries a minimum of 25 years imprisonment with no possibility of parole.

The jury found Homer guilty on the lesser included offenses of indecency with a child by contact which is a second-degree felony and indecency with a child by exposure which is a third-degree felony.

During the punishment phase of the trial, the jury assessed the maximum punishments on each offense. Homer received 20 years for indecency by contact, 10 years for indecency by exposure, and $10,000 fines for each.

Fifth Judicial District Court Judge Bill Miller ordered that those sentences be served, consecutively. Homer must serve at least one-half of the twenty-year sentence before he will be eligible for parole for the charge of indecency with a child by contact.

Once granted parole, he will begin serving his 10-year sentence for the charge of indecency with a child by exposure.

The jury based their guilty verdicts on testimony from the victim as well as the victim’s mother, a forensic interviewer with the Child Advocacy Center, and the victim’s therapist.

The case was prosecuted by Criminal District Attorney Courtney Shelton and First Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Ross and investigated by the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, who received assistance from the Child Advocacy Center in Texarkana and Linden, Texas.