Dad Shows Kids Porn, Mom Fights To Change State Law
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - After almost two years of legal battles, a Dallas mother finally got justice for her daughters. The woman's ex-husband showed pornography to their daughters, and under Texas law it was legal.
Crystal Buckner says her two daughters were robbed of their innocence. "They were 8 and 9 [years old] and introduced to things only adults should know about," she said.
In February of 2009, the girls' father, Jack Buckner, showed the children pornography on his home computer in Amarillo.
When Crystal found out, she wanted her ex-husband arrested, but he was protected by a Texas law that allows parents or guardians to show their kids porn in the name of sex education.
After months of legal battles, Jack Buckner was prosecuted under a different statute. In early March, he pleaded guilty to two counts of showing a minor harmful material.
"All the frustration, all the tears, all the picking up the pieces from my daughters, holding them, letting them cry on my shoulder, it's all over," Crystal said with relief.
In the end, Jack Buckner was sentenced to one year of probation and received no fines.
Crystal says the punishment is what's best for her girls. "That way the girls don't have to say 'my daddy's in jail' and then have to deal with all the questions that come with that."
Now Crystal is getting ready for another court fight – this one involving custody of the children. Currently, the girls' father is allowed full parental rights.
Crystal is seeking supervised visitation while he is on probation. "I don't 100 percent trust him," Crystal said of her ex-husband. "I probably never will, but I have to have some level of trust because he is their dad and they will have to see them."
Another battle that Crystal has undertaken is lobbying to change the law that so that it would be illegal for an adult to show a minor pornography -- even if that person is their parent or guardian.
Crystal says if the law is changed she'll tell her girls she did it for them. "For it to be changed and no other child will have to go through this again is amazing to me," she said.
State Senator Bob Deuell of Greenville introduced Senate Bill 757 in February, and his office expects it to pass during this legislative session.
