Former Fort Worth Jubilee Theatre director gets 12 years in prison

A 35-year-old man who rose from humble beginnings to direct plays at a showcase for African-American theater was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Friday for the sexual assault of a child.

The Tarrant County jurors who convicted Declois Beacham on Thursday handed up the sentence late Friday afternoon.

Prosecutors described Beacham cruising low-income neighborhoods in his silver BWM and handing out $100 to young boys in exchange for sexual acts.

Beacham’s DNA was found on an 11-year-old boy’s genitals, according to testimony this week.

Prosecutors asked the jury to send Beacham to prison for 50 years or more. His attorneys asked for a five-year sentence. The maximum sentence is 99 years or life in prison.

“I am disappointed with the guilty verdict but relieved the jury did not return the harsher sentence demanded by the prosecution,” said Cody Cofer, Beacham’s attorney.

Beacham, known professionally as Tre Garrett, became artistic director for the Jubilee Theatre, one of the oldest black theaters in Texas, in January 2011. He has not worked there since February 2015, soon after his arrest on Jan. 30.

“The victims and their families are disappointed in the punishment,” said prosecutor Eric Nickols. “The verdict means he will be eligible for parole in six years and potentially have access to children then. We hope his future victims are as courageous as these were.”

Both prosecution and defense attorneys depicted Beacham’s story as a modern-day tragedy. Character witnesses who testified during the punishment phase on Friday said that Beacham overcame a brutal upbringing with no parental support to get an education, a career and a measure of fame in his chosen profession.

“Tre’s story is that he was able to get a scholarship, get on a Greyhound and go to college and have the opportunity to touch people’s lives in a meaningful way,” Cofer said in his closing statement.

“So much so that he’s able to have friends and colleagues who, despite what you’ve become convinced of, are willing to stand by him and be there for him on the other end.”

But Nickols said that Beacham’s talent is part of the tragedy. The jury has no reason to believe that Beacham will not get out of prison and start creeping through another low-income neighborhood and solicit other children for sex, Nickols said.

“He had so much talent and the ability to do things,” Nickols said. “He knows what he did to get out of his old neighborhood, and he targets boys from that same place.”

Ernest Scott, who testified that he has known Beacham since high school, said his parents provided him with no support, so when he got his scholarship he depended on friends to take him to the bus station. His parents would not even fill out their portion of Beacham’s financial aid application, Scott said.

“He never let challenges like that cause him to give up,” Scott said. “He was always driven, committed to excel and do well in spite of not having people expect that much out of him.”

Before Beacham’s character witnesses testified, the prosecution called two more teens who said Beacham solicited them for sex. They told their stories of being accosted in southeast Fort Worth. One said Beacham tried to follow him home after asking if there was anyone willing to have sex with him for $100.

“I ran home after he told me to get in the car,” the high school senior who is now 18 said. “I was scared.”

None of the boys who said they were solicited by Beacham are being named because the Star-Telegram typically does not identify accusers in sexual assault cases.

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Former Fort Worth Jubilee Theatre director gets 12 years in prison."