FWPD: Arrested Theater Director Is Child Sexual Predator
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Fort Worth police say they have identified and arrested the child predator responsible for sexually assaulting a young boy and soliciting several others. The 34-year-old is the artistic director of the Jubilee Theater.
Declois Garrett Beacham, who also goes by the name Tre Garrett, turned himself in to Fort Worth police Friday afternoon.
Police said Beacham tried to convince children to perform sexual acts with the lure of money.
According to authorities, Beacham sexually assaulted an 11-year-old boy, solicited a 17-year-old and made contact with at least one other child.
Police say Beacham approached the 11-year-old and another child and asked if either of them wanted to make $100. The 11-year-old said he did, and was then told to go to a gate at the rear of an apartment complex.
At some point after, the child got into the suspect's vehicle and was taken to a side street, with no surrounding houses, and was assaulted. The suspect later gave the child the $100 promised and released him.
During a Friday press conference Fort Worth police Detective Chris Daniels said, "We learned of an additional 13-year-old victim yesterday. He was offered money and [there] was an attempt to lure him into the suspect's vehicle. This child said 'no' and ran away and he too positively identified Declois Beacham."
Investigators say they only released a very general description of the suspect on Thursday because they wanted their case and see if there were more victims.
Detective Daniels explained, "He [Beacham] was under surveillance. He had been interviewed by detectives. His lawyer knew that we were watching him. He knew that we were watching him. So we… the public was safe from him at that point."
Police say the pieces started to come together after a child victim came forward. "January 12 is when we learned about the first assault. After the interaction with the 17-year-old on January 9 we realized that that was related. Once we were able to identify a suspect, and confirm that identity with the victims, it is at that point when we went ahead and started conducting surveillance."
Under the show name Tre Garrett, Beacham was hired as artistic director of the Jubilee Theatre in 2010.
The Jubilee Theatre Board of Trustees issued a statement Friday, saying --
"We know only what we've seen and heard in the news, and cannot make any comment on the allegations against Tre Garrett.
We have known Tre for five years, and have not seen any indication he would participate in the kind of behavior he is accused of. He is a very talented individual and has done excellent work at Jubilee and other theaters in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
We will have to wait to see how the situation unfolds."
Beacham has been charged with two counts of Compelling Prostitution with a child under 18 years old.
Beacham, with the help of his attorney, surrendered at the Tarrant County Jail Friday and was released on $50,000 bail.
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