A litany of lingering child sex cases alleged in Jefferson County were called before Judge Raquel West the week of April 11, one proceeding to trial with the accused representing himself against allegations of continuous sexual abuse of a child and sexual assault of a child.
Eandre Juwon Mott, of Beaumont, presented a defense before the court that amounted to blaming the 12-year-old victim for lying about her age for the duration of the many, many times he participated in sexual acts with the young child. Faced with photos of the girl during the trial, the jury was given police testimony that it was hard to believe that the 12 year old was of the age of consent.
Mott reportedly turned down an agreement with the state for 30 years incarceration in exchange for a guilty plea on the sexual abuse of a child charge, and instead faces from 25 to 99 years, or life, in prison if found guilty and sentenced by the jury.
As of press time, a verdict had not yet been rendered.
The same week, other alleged predator charges were set off as attorneys are still preparing for court presentation. Despite a probable cause affidavit that alleges the Texas Attorney General possessed evidence of his guilt nearly two years ago, that evidence against former Beaumont Municipal Airport employee Adam Meaux still hasn’t made it through discovery, according to testimony presented to Judge West, and the 10 counts of possessing child pornography still pending against the free man are pending indefinitely.
“My understanding is we are still waiting on the same things we have been waiting for,” Meaux’s defense attorney Tom Kelley informed the court, adding that the forensic analysis anticipated is “pretty voluminous.”
Prosecutor Tatiana Zelezniak said that the child pornography was not something the District Attorney’s Office was going to let leave out the door with the accused.
“You have to come look at it,” she told the defendant and his counsel, and recommended a trip to the courthouse for inspection.
“Sounds like you guys are going to be taking care of some business before the next court date,” West decided.
The court dates up to now have been as voluminous as the anticipated evidence against the accused. In July 2022, after reviewing evidence that the then-24 year old allegedly posted and downloaded more than 100 videos and photos of children being sexually assaulted, a Jefferson County grand jury indicted the Port Neches man on 10 counts of child pornography.
The case against Meaux had been in the making at that time for more than a year, and included the alleged sexual assault of children as young as one, and accessing child pornography from a computer owned by the city of Beaumont.
A probable cause affidavit penned by Sgt. Chris Rybarski of the Texas Attorney General’s Office states that, “On April 23, 2021, the National Center for the Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline received an electronic report from Google, LLC reporting a user who uploaded 68 files of child pornography to their platform.”
Rybarski began his investigation in October 2021 after Google sent him Meaux’s information, including his Gmail address and cell phone number. The investigator initially viewed 38 files allegedly attributed to Meaux, showing girls as young as six being sexually assaulted.
An open records request from the investigator revealed that Meaux used a computer at the Beaumont Municipal Airport to login to the account harboring his child pornography files.
After drafting a search warrant for Meaux’s Google history in November 2021, Rybarski received a return from the company in March 2022. He found “numerous” images and videos depicting child pornography, writing, “Your affiant also identified several images of Meaux at the Beaumont Municipal Airport, which is Meaux’s place of employment.”
Rybarski and members of the Texas Attorney General’s Office Child Exploitation Unit executed a residential search warrant at the Port Neches home where Meaux reportedly lived with his father, Beaumont Municipal Airport Manager Chris Meaux, and found Meaux exiting his garage. Airport tenants report that Meaux tendered his resignation shortly after the execution of the criminal search warrant.
A subsequent look through Meaux’s phone showed investigators more than 100 “images and videos” of child pornography, the affidavit reads, depicting children as young as one year old being sexually assaulted.
In a newer filed case, Raven Renee Melancon stood accused of two cases of aggravated sexual assault of a child before Judge West, also with attorney Tom Kelley.
“I was brought in pretty recently,” Kelley said.
Although the case was new to the docket and to the defense attorney, it was not new to Child Protective Services (CPS), the judge said, and requested where the evidentiary discovery process was in this instance.
“I don’t know the status of that yet,” Zelezniak said, adding that she had requested the CPS reports months ago.
“It’s usually taking a few months,” West confirmed of CPS document production. “So, …”