Did Facebook post spur Watauga police to act on a sexual assault case? One woman says yes.
A Watauga man that a mother and daughter had previously called out on Facebook was indicted this week, accused of posting video on social media of the daughter performing a sexual act with him.
Months ago, the mother went before the Watauga City Council and told officials that police ignored her daughter’s report that she was sexually assaulted until her daughter wrote about the allegations on Facebook.
What Cassie Duncan did not publicly share with city officials was that her daughter didn’t realize she had been sexually assaulted until she saw the video, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
Typically, the Star-Telegram does not reveal the identity of people who report sexual assault, but in this case the woman posted publicly about the allegations and granted permission through her mother for her name to be used.
Duncan’s daughter, Zoey Sitton, 18, reported the sexual assault allegations to police Jan. 20, 2018, now more than a year ago.
Police arrested Tyler Joseph Estes, 24, of Watauga, in October and he faced charges of sexual assault and of publishing or threatening to publish intimate visual material. Bond was set at $10,000, according to jail records.
A Tarrant County grand jury declined to pursue charges on the sexual assault allegation on Tuesday, but went forward on the publishing charge, according to Samantha Jordan, Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman.
The attorney representing Estes, John Brender, declined to comment in detail on the pending litigation.
“We appreciate the grand jury decision in this matter,” Brender said. “Twelve citizens from Tarrant County came together and reviewed the facts and decided there was no evidence to go forward on the sexual assault charge.
“We are disappointed that they returned an indictment on the publishing charge, but we will present a vigorous defense in that case.”
Estes was booked into jail Oct. 15 and released the next day after posting bond. The second count of a criminal complaint filed with the Tarrant County District Clerk’s Office alleged that Estes forced Sitton to have oral sex under the threat or use of force.
In her Facebook post, dated Sept. 21, Sitton wrote: “Every morning for the last around 10 months I’ve woken up 3 blocks away from my rapist, knowing he’s driving around my city, free to do as he pleases with no remorse or repercussions for what he did to me. I’ve lived in my city, Watauga, Texas, for around 10 years now and never suspected as a child that this could happen to me 3 blocks from my home and 3 blocks from my POLICE DEPARTMENT with video evidence and witnesses and that near a year later I would still be living with the fear of running in to him.
“Yesterday I passed my rapist as he crossed Hightower in his car, as he drove freely, as he had his creepy and disgusting freedom. I’m sad that this happened to me but I’m more sad that the city I reside in has all of this registered felon’s information along with every lucky piece of evidence you could think of and not a single person of law has spoke to the man who assaulted me.”
‘You understand that you sexually assaulted me, right?’
Sitton is a recovering addict who has been treated for Xanax dependency, Duncan said. When Estes opened his door on Jan. 15, Sitton told him she felt depressed and suicidal, her mother said. That’s when Estes gave her Xanax, according to the affidavit.
“He (Estes) took advantage of that,” Duncan said. “He fed her enough Xanax that night, I’m shocked that she survived it.”
Sitton told police that she did not remember the next two days.
Sitton told police about a tweet allegedly posted on Jan. 16, which said: “’U ready.” and “I’m going to drop this video.’”
The next day she remembers is Jan. 17, Sitton told police. Estes showed her a video of her performing oral sex on him while she was riding in a car with him, Sitton said.
Portions of the video, showing Sitton’s face, were released on Snapchat and on Twitter, the affidavit said. Sitton said she did not remember performing the act, nor did she remember giving consent.
After seeing the video, Sitton said to Estes: “You understand that you sexually assaulted me, right?” and then she asked Estes to take her home, which he did, the affidavit stated.
Estes messaged Sitton about 1 p.m. Jan. 19, and asked her not to tell anyone about what happened because it would ruin his life and he would go back to prison, the affidavit said.
Estes was sentenced to state jail for two separate drug offenses in 2014 and 2015, according to Tarrant County District Clerk records.
It’s not that it was ignored, police said
Sitton and a relative supplied Detective B. McComis with written statements Jan. 22, 2018, during an interview at the Watauga police station, and Sitton provided McComis with another written statement Sept. 26, 2018. McComis signed an arrest warrant Oct. 12 accusing Estes of publishing intimate visual material.
The recommended bond on the warrant alleging publishing intimate visual material was $10,000.
“I felt there was no compassion with detective McComis,” Duncan said. “She( Sitton) didn’t feel believed by McComis.”
The family requested another detective be assigned to the case.
“It’s not that it was ignored,” said Lt. Jason Babcock, Watauga police spokesman. “We did our own investigation.”
A second warrant accusing Estes of sexual assault was signed by another detective, H. Tank-Holland, Oct. 12. The recommended bond on the second affidavit was $125,000.
Tank-Holland watched the two videos and said Sitton displayed signs of intoxication, which included unfocused eyes, unsteadiness and unusual behavior, according to the affidavit. Tank-Holland also wrote that Sitton was incapable of understanding the nature of the sexual act or resisting it.
Mother takes concerns to City Council
Duncan spoke before Watauga City Council members during an Oct. 22 meeting, city records show. For months after reporting the incident to police, family members tried repeatedly to get in touch with the detective working the case, McComis, to no avail, Duncan said.
After the public post calling out the Watauga Police Department for not moving on the case, things began to happen immediately, Duncan said.
“In response we were contacted by a lieutenant within hours of our post, and a few others from our community who felt that their stories were similar to ours and they wanted us to know that we weren’t alone,” Duncan said.
There is no internal affairs investigation concerning McComis.
Duncan said she decided to address the City Council because people needed to know about the disconnect her daughter felt. Sitton did everything that she was supposed to do, including supplying the police department with video, and said that it should not have taken her going public to obtain the results that she was seeking, according to Duncan.
“The fact that things were not handled the way that they should have been handled from day one is a problem,” Duncan said.
If things are not being handled the right way, you have to hold people accountable, even the police, Duncan said. Duncan said she had a meeting with Robert Parker, Watauga police chief, who assigned another investigator to the case at the family’s request.
“If my daughter had not been strong enough to speak up when she wasn’t being heard, I can’t imagine that she would have gotten the care that she deserved,” Duncan said. “That is and should be scary for all of us.”
Chief says police department reviewed its policies
Parker said his department has reviewed policy but has not made any policy changes. A different detective was assigned to the case, but because the case is still pending, Parker said he could not discuss details of the investigation or why a second detective was assigned to the case.
No one has ever come to him asking for help with a similar issue, a sexual assault complaint where they believed the investigation was inordinately delayed, Parker said.
“You asked why the delay in an arrest, and the short answer is that things take time in investigations and there were some unintended delays,” Parker said. “I realize that is not much information, but it is what I can tell you.”
Parker would neither confirm nor deny that an investigation into how the case was handled was ongoing or had been conducted.
“What I can tell you is that we have reviewed how all the cases are processed within our department to ensure we provide the highest quality police service to our citizens,” Parker said.
Often when people have an issue with a restaurant, they turn to social media when they may have been able to solve the issue by discussing it with the restaurant manager, Parker said as an example.
“Social media seems to be a first resort for people, and it doesn’t have to be,” Parker said. “People do not completely understand the process that takes place in police work.”
According to statistics compiled by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, 230 out of every 1,000 sexual assault victims will make a police report and five of those police reports will lead to a felony conviction.
This story was originally published March 29, 2019 at 12:35 PM.
