Crime

Adults charged with crimes against children

Two people, including a former Chamber of Commerce executive, were released on bond after being arrested May 15 on multiple counts of child endangerment, according to the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office jail report.

Felon with a firearm at Fuma Dubai sentenced

Wendell Rashaud McKinney, 38, of Beaumont, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone on May 12.

Man found guilty, sentenced in child sex crime case

James Daniel Swearingen, 29, was found guilty and sentenced May 13 to 65 years and 20 years in prison for child sex crimes by a Hardin County jury, according to Hardin County District Attorney Rebecca Walton.

Jury grants probation for child sex crimes

Brendan Hardy, convicted of two sexual assault of a child cases, was sentenced to probation by a Jefferson County jury on May 14. A third felony allegation of indecency with a child was dismissed by the same jury.

Duo arrested in drug bust

Two men were arrested May 14 during a drug bust, according to a Beaumont Police Department (BPD) news release.At 10 a.m.

Silsbee cold-case murder suspect died 20 years ago

Roughly 38 years later, the cold-case murder of a Hardin County woman has been solved through DNA and forensic genealogy, Silsbee Police Chief Shawn Blackwell announced May 1.

Child sex abuser dies in prison

A convicted child sex abuser from Hardin County, who was sentenced to life in prison, died May 1 at the Gib Lewis Unit in Woodville, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

HCSO: May starts with woman nabbed on 7 charges

The Hardin County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) began May with a woman arrested on seven charges, according to an HCSO jail report.Michelle Doreen Jackson, 58, was arrested May 1, and all seven charges stem from 2025 cases in Hardin and Jefferson counties.

California man gets 50 years for local child sex crime

A California man pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child May 6 in Hardin County.Dillon Matthew Ellis, 34, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the 2022 crime.

Lumberton man arrested for child sex crime

A 35-year-old man was arrested on a child sex crime charge May 12.Anthony David Salazar of Lumberton was charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, according to a Hardin County Sheriff’s Office jail report. No other information was available at press time.