Child's 'letter to God' leads to pedophile Mark Elliott Jones' arrest
MCKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) - The parent of a child sexually assaulted by Mark Elliott Jones, 49, found a letter the victim wrote to God disclosing the abuse.
Jones was subsequently arrested and sentenced to 35 years in prison without the possibility of parole for continuous sexual abuse of a child.
"It is a sad day in the community when we learn that a sexual predator has been abusing even one innocent child for years. But to learn that this predator sexually traumatized not one but two innocent children is simply unbearable," said District Attorney Greg Willis after sentencing.
Jones sexually abused the children, according to Willis, who he had ongoing access to during a period of several years. The two victims were 10 and 14 years old.
One of the children's parents found a letter their daughter had written to God in which she disclosed the abuse. The child's parent reported the information to law enforcement, whose investigation led to the discovery of the second victim.
McKinney Police Department Detective Zachary Craven investigated the case. The victim was forensically interviewed at the Children's Advocacy Center of Collin County, where both children disclosed details about the ongoing abuse.
By law, a sentence for continuous sexual abuse of a child is without eligibility for parole.
