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John Wayne Stone
John Wayne Stone
The assertion that 79-year-old John Wayne Stone has been in a position of authority and trust as a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy and jailer didn’t help the now former officer of the law get a reduced sentence in the continuous sexual abuse of a child case for which he pleaded guilty before the Aug. 14 sentencing hearing. Despite Stone’s attorney, Scott Renick, arguing that his client’s prior service to the community deserved leniency, 252nd District Court Judge Raquel West was more angered by Stone’s fall from grace than persuaded to grant leniency to an alleged lawman who admitted raping a 6-year-old child under his care.
Furthermore, The Examiner has uncovered, the pedophile’s service record is, at best, exaggerated; and, at worst, a total farce.
In 2021, then 76 year old John Wayne Stone, of Beaumont, was accused of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, a 6-year-old girl, according to the probable cause affidavit. The child’s mother said she witnessed the sexual assault with her own two eyes the day she reported Stone – her own grandfather and the victim’s great-grandfather – to police, Oct. 23, 2020. According to investigators, the abuse was ongoing for about two years at Stone’s home, an amount of time referenced by the young victim as “forever.”
As part of a plea agreement with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, Stone pleaded guilty to the child sex assault in exchange for sentencing not to exceed five years in prison. Attorney Renick, as well as Stone’s family members and friends, urged the judge to grant probation for a man they said was a good person caught up in “an anomaly” – or, as detailed by prosecutor Tatiana Zelezniak, two years of consistent “anomalies” that the accused only admitted to after irrefutable DNA evidence came back nearly two years after the reported child rape.
“This is a gentleman that has no criminal history whatsoever,” Renick said, and pointed to the gaggle of family members in court to support the admitted child sex offender as evidence of how loved Stone still is. “He worked for the Jefferson County’s Sheriff’s department. He worked for the jail. His reputation before this happened was exemplary.
“He was a love and support for (the victim). What has happened, you honor… is an anomaly.”
Renick said the elderly sex offender is suffering from “failing health” and any prison confinement would be tantamount to a death sentence.
“The letters to the court are asking for Mr. Stone to get a pass,” Judge West spoke onto the record of a stack of affirmations in support of Stone from family members he also shares with his 6-year-old victim. “She’ll have to live the rest of her life really questioning whether or not she can trust a family member of hers because Mr. Stone took that away from her.
“I get that prison is not comfortable. It is what Mr. Stone faces because of his own actions.”
A total of 13 family members and close friends wrote in support of the admitted child sex offender, as supplied to the court: Messianic Rabbi David Stone Jr., Gwen Price, David Watson, Michelle Mott Tillery, Zula Mott, Bertie Stone, James Wilson, DO Kristel D. Leubner, Sybil Stone, Nancy Lambert, Mitch Lambert, Melissa Phillips, and Alyssa Starkie.
“Despite his current situation,” Alyssa Starkie urged the court in consideration of sentencing Stone to probation at home, “it is my belief that John Stone is an honorable man. He is a valuable member of his community and not a threat to anyone.”
Starkie went on to say that she missed Stone’s presence in her family’s life as access has been hindered by the child sex abuse prosecution – and, now, admission of guilt: “It has been extremely difficult not being able to see him for not only myself but for my children who love him and miss him a great deal. His absence has been hard on everyone who has known him.”
David Watson pointed to Stone’s alleged “Christian values” as a reason the child rapist deserved probation; Bertie Stone and James Wilson also urged the court to consider Stone’s devotion to the Lord.
Rabbi David Stone Jr. stated that, as the godson to his beloved “Uncle Johnny,” he can personally attest that the sex offender being sentenced, “is a good man that loves his family” and a man of prayer.
“He did plead guilty but I still believe he is not,” Rabbi Stone said of Uncle Johnny, who pleaded guilty to continuous sex abuse of a child prior to the written July 13 letter of support. “Please show a bit of mercy on my aging uncle because of a lifetime of service to the city of Beaumont.
“Maybe house arrest would also prevent him from danger in prison because of his history as a police officer.”
The Examiner reached out to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to inquire about Stone’s career with the agency. According to Capt. Crystal Holmes, there’s no service record to be found for Stone except for a Human Resources report of the defendant applying to the county in 1974. No independent verification could be secured from the sheriff’s office, but a Pre-Sentence Investigation (PSI) report prepared by the probation department delving into Stone’s past supports prior employment history in law enforcement the years of 1973-1984.
Zelezniak argued that probation would be quite insufficient for justice due to the heinous nature of the crime. According to the prosecutor, even if the maximum of five years imprisonment were imposed, it would be a “sweetheart deal.”
“The reason he gets this sweetheart deal is to spare (the victim) from coming in here and having to testify,” Zelezniak said. During the court proceeding, Zelezniak read a statement from the victim’s mother, who was noted as a solo representative from the shared family connections.
“The man I grew up with, believing to be next to God, proved to be pure evil,” the victim’s mother wrote; she was also raised by Stone, her grandfather, from the time her own mother, Stone’s daughter, passed away at just 32 years old. According to her, she walked in to eyewitness Stone violate her child, his great-granddaughter.
“I will skip the details … the pain is unbearable,” she said through the prosecutor. “To witness a man I trusted with all my heart and soul… this nightmare has become a daily task to overcome. I assure … this is a feeling you never want to come to know.”
Pleading with the court to sentence Stone to prison, the victim’s mother begged: “Help save and prevent this from happening to another innocent child.”
After a recess to read the defendant’s letters of support, Judge West addressed Stone directly: “It is unfortunate, in my opinion, that you have support. It’s unfortunate that (the victim) doesn’t have people supporting her.”
The victim’s great-grandmother, Sybil Stone, had written a letter begging the court to send the defendant home with her.
“I don’t know what I would do without him here with me,” she wrote. “He has always been a man of good faith and character, and his family and community love him. I please ask you allow my husband to remain at home with me so we can spend out our last years together.”
As written in some form or fashion in most of the more than a dozen requests for Stone’s release, his wife likewise testified: “He is a kind and gentle man and is not a threat to anyone.”
West said she was dumbfounded by the production of letters saying that Stone “is not a threat,” when he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a young child.
“You’re clearly a threat,” West said. “I don’t understand this at all. It’s beyond me.”
Sentencing Stone to the maximum allowed under the plea agreement, West said the five-year prison sentence was a stroke of undeserved luck. The victim’s representative, having the last word, hoped that Stone soon see a stroke of karma rather than good fortune.
“You are the worst kind of human,” she said. “What you did is unforgivable. You are not a man; you are a demon and a parasite.
“When you breathe your last breath on Earth, your real sentencing will begin. I hope your soul burns in Hell. I wish nothing but the worst in life for you and your family.”
Go to https://www.theexaminer.com/news/john-wayne-stone-support-letters to read all of John Wayne Stone's letters of support from his family.