LOL im sure he will catch at least some friendly ribbing for this. This is like 20 mins from my city.
Man who thought he was soliciting prostitute for son gets probation
By Tommy Witherspoon, Waco Tribune-Herald staff writer
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
A McGregor man who thought he was soliciting a prostitute on behalf of his “highly frustrated” teenage son was placed on felony probation Tuesday on a charge of compelling prostitution.
Judge George Allen of Waco's 54th State District Court sentenced James Monroe Ballard Jr., 58, a retired military man who owns a lawn service, to 10 years felony probation after Ballard's guilty plea to the second-degree felony.
Ballard, who was accompanied to court by his wife, declined comment after he was sentenced.
As part of his plea bargain, prosecutors agreed to dismiss three felony theft charges and a misdemeanor assault charge against Ballard. The assault charge related to a physical altercation last year between Ballard and his older son, according to court records.
Ballard was arrested May 20 after he agreed to pay a woman $20 to have sex with his younger son, according to police reports filed in the case. The woman, who turned out to be an undercover Waco police officer, approached Ballard and his son at the corner of North 15th Street and Blair Avenue and asked Ballard's son what he wanted.
Ballard's son said that he “would take anything,” the officer wrote in her report, adding that she asked if they wanted sex. “Just for him,” the officer reported Ballard responded.
After his arrest, Ballard's son and his red Dodge pickup truck were released to Ballard's wife and Ballard went to the McLennan County Jail.
Later, Ballard told the Waco officers that he had caught his son looking at adult magazines and accessing pornographic Web sites, adding that “he found that his son was highly frustrated.”
Ballard told the officer that his own father had taken him to a “house known for prostitution” in Austin when he was about his son's age.
“James Ballard Jr. reiterated several times that he had made a mistake and was sorry for his actions,” an officer noted in police reports.
The state jail felony theft cases that were dismissed involved the theft of more than $1,500 in lawn equipment from Rolling Oaks Country Club in July 2004, prosecutor Jason Darling said. Ballard reportedly had stored the stolen items at a storage shed and a Ballard family member tipped police to their whereabouts, Darling said.
That was after Ballard was arrested for allegedly assaulting his older son last year, Darling said. That misdemeanor charge also will not be pursued.
“The goal of this case was for Mr. Ballard to take responsibility for his actions through this plea deal,” Darling said. “He has taken responsibility and we believe justice was served.”
Ballard faced up to 20 years in prison on the compelling prostitution charge.
Man who thought he was soliciting prostitute for son gets probation
By Tommy Witherspoon, Waco Tribune-Herald staff writer
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
A McGregor man who thought he was soliciting a prostitute on behalf of his “highly frustrated” teenage son was placed on felony probation Tuesday on a charge of compelling prostitution.
Judge George Allen of Waco's 54th State District Court sentenced James Monroe Ballard Jr., 58, a retired military man who owns a lawn service, to 10 years felony probation after Ballard's guilty plea to the second-degree felony.
Ballard, who was accompanied to court by his wife, declined comment after he was sentenced.
As part of his plea bargain, prosecutors agreed to dismiss three felony theft charges and a misdemeanor assault charge against Ballard. The assault charge related to a physical altercation last year between Ballard and his older son, according to court records.
Ballard was arrested May 20 after he agreed to pay a woman $20 to have sex with his younger son, according to police reports filed in the case. The woman, who turned out to be an undercover Waco police officer, approached Ballard and his son at the corner of North 15th Street and Blair Avenue and asked Ballard's son what he wanted.
Ballard's son said that he “would take anything,” the officer wrote in her report, adding that she asked if they wanted sex. “Just for him,” the officer reported Ballard responded.
After his arrest, Ballard's son and his red Dodge pickup truck were released to Ballard's wife and Ballard went to the McLennan County Jail.
Later, Ballard told the Waco officers that he had caught his son looking at adult magazines and accessing pornographic Web sites, adding that “he found that his son was highly frustrated.”
Ballard told the officer that his own father had taken him to a “house known for prostitution” in Austin when he was about his son's age.
“James Ballard Jr. reiterated several times that he had made a mistake and was sorry for his actions,” an officer noted in police reports.
The state jail felony theft cases that were dismissed involved the theft of more than $1,500 in lawn equipment from Rolling Oaks Country Club in July 2004, prosecutor Jason Darling said. Ballard reportedly had stored the stolen items at a storage shed and a Ballard family member tipped police to their whereabouts, Darling said.
That was after Ballard was arrested for allegedly assaulting his older son last year, Darling said. That misdemeanor charge also will not be pursued.
“The goal of this case was for Mr. Ballard to take responsibility for his actions through this plea deal,” Darling said. “He has taken responsibility and we believe justice was served.”
Ballard faced up to 20 years in prison on the compelling prostitution charge.
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