The Truth, The Whole Truth, & Nothing But The Truth
Hello, my name is Travarius Leon Dent and depending on how you got here, you may or may not have known that I am presently being held as a pretrial detainee at the Bell County Justice Complex in Belton, Texas.
My reason for creating this website is to present to you the absolute truth that the Bell County District Attorney’s office has been diligently trying to suppress. The beautiful thing about the truth is that no matter how many lies are piled on top of it, it will always find a means by which to surface.
As I reveal the facts of this fraudulent and extremely hurtful accusation against me, I have to be cautious about some of the things that I publish and share with you on this site in order to avoid any negative legal ramifications. For instance, I can’t specifically name the individual who has accused me and I’m forced to be somewhat vague about some of the details concerning this case until it goes back to trial. Even so, I feel that the information which, I believe, I can share is sufficient enough for anyone to be able to recognize the evident and overwhelming truth.
The Accusation
On top of that and just as disturbing, to me, is the allegation that I committed one of those alleged offenses while the child’s mother was at the hospital in labor. In reality, I was actually there at the hospital with the mother during the entire labor and delivery so apparently I am being accused of leaving the hospital after tearfully witnessing the birth of a child and then leaving to go rape another. That is beyond sick and hearing that broadcast tore me apart. I couldn’t believe that a story so false could be aired and printed that recklessly without any consideration or measure of verification. I’ve never been one to label stories that I don’t necessarily agree with as fake news, but the lies that were fabricated against me in the media definitively fall into that category. Unequivocally FAKE NEWS!
The Motive
Week before this allegation was concocted, the child, who was fourteen years old at the time, was growing increasingly bold and disrespectful both at school and at home which forced me to step up my disciplinary measures.
For example, one day I walked in and caught her and one of her brother’s friends grinding and kissing on each other. Another day, while I was standing in my driveway, I witnessed her drop to her knees and start twerking on the corner of the street we lived on. She had also begun stealing, got suspended from school, and would habitually lie about even the smallest things.
I was fed up. So after receiving another call from her school about her behavior; I grounded her, took her iPhone, and told her she wasn’t getting it back. After I went through the phone, I then found videos and text messages of her and her friends behaving and conversating in ways that were totally inappropriate for girls their age. I also discovered that she had created a Match.com account and was being connected with twenty something year old men. I then showed those things to the child’s mother who became furious and actually beat the child which was something that I had never witnessed before.
After a week or two had passed, I remained unwavering on her punishment and refused to let up even though her mother had begun to soften and try to persuade me to. A few month’s prior, I had taken the child’s cell phone which led to a very heated argument between the mother and I that nearly ended with me packing up and leaving. At the last minute; however, I folded. I wish now that I would have just left and moved on. The end result was the child getting her phone back, being taken off punishment, and me looking extremely weak as a disciplinarian.
I now wholeheartedly believe that incident was a precursor to all of this because the child witnessed the argument and then saw that she could successfully pit her mother and I in opposition of one another to her benefit. Honestly; there is much more to the story and accusation, but like I stated previously, those details will have to be addressed during trial.
The System
After being accused, I was arrested and charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault of a child. I was then booked into the Bell County Jail on May 22, 2018. At that time I was appointed a public defender by the name of Billy Ray Hall to represent me.
Months passed by without a word from him. I constantly called, but never got an answer and I wrote him letters, but never got a reply. Finally, I decided to write to the State Bar Association about his lack of response and after a bit of runaround, he was removed as my attorney of record.
The second public defender I was appointed, Zachery Boyd, was relatively new to this area and after speaking with him initially, I felt good about him representing me. The next time we met to discuss the case; however, we were briefly speaking casually and he suddenly realized that he knew and talked to the mother of the accuser on numerous occasions. Once was actually in relation to the accusation. The mother, who worked as a bail bondsman here in Bell County, was often times at the courthouse where they had met during the course of business. Due to the situation, he did the lawful thing and withdrew as my attorney citing conflict of interest.
The third public defender assigned to me was Bobby Barina. I had been warned by numerous people that he was very disreputable and told that I should get rid of him as soon as possible, but I felt like he would have no other choice, but to do his job and present the facts of this case as well as point out the number of blaring discrepancies in the allegation. I was wrong however and it almost cost me everything.
The Confession
In 2019; over a year after I had been incarcerated, Barina visited me over the video system and told me that the accuser’s story had changed. He said that she was now saying that she had lied about ever being sexually assaulted and instead I was accused of touching her on one occasion and exposing my penis on another, which is also a lie.
He went on to say that the District Attorney had offered me a plea deal and if I pledged guilty to a much lesser charge of Indecency, they would drop the Aggravated sexual Assault charge and I would be released that day with time served.
I immediately rejected their offer. He then nonchalantly told me that the Aggravated sexual Assault charge would be dropped anyway due to the change in story and I would be charged with Indecency. Right then and there I realized that he had tried to finesse me and I recognized exactly who I was dealing with.
A few days later; on August 22, 2019, I was charged and indicted with Indecency. The initial charge of sexual assault still reflected on my bond amount, however, and when I asked Berina about it he said that it was just the DA’s way of keeping me from bailing out of jail.
Because I didn’t have an address at that time, I really didn’t make a complaint about it. So I sat and waited patiently as trial dates were designated and rescheduled time and time again. Then in May of 2022, Barina came to tell me that I had trial in one week.
One Week! Over the course of four years, he never once came to discuss this case with me, but then with only one week to prepare before trial; I finally had an opportunity to review the Discovery Packet which contained documents and related information detailing the allegation.
Barina’s people came, gave me the documents to read, took them back, and left. No one bothered to talk to me about anything. During that week, Bobby Barina also told me that the DA was going to go ahead and try me for Aggravated Sexual Assault. Confused, I asked him how they could do that being that the accuser had confessed to, at least, lying about being sexually assaulted. He basically gave me a shoulder shrug and acted like he didn’t remember telling me that the sexual assault charge would be dropped back in 2019.
Through dealing with public defenders like Bobby Barina and witnessing for myself how countless individuals are blindly railroaded like cattle to slaughter, I’ve learned that the system which is operating here in the judiciary doesn’t care about the truth or justice that it is suppose to uphold. This District Attorney’s Office is only concerned with their conviction rate and saving face.
Instead of admitting their mistake and taking responsibility for it, they used gamesmanship in order to try to secure a guilty plea through empty threats meant to instill fear and public defenders who don’t give a damn about the individuals they are suppose to be representing. I also learned, and this is an important fact, that Berina use to work for the DA’s office and is also an associate of the accuser’s mother like the second public defender who withdrew from this case due to conflict of interest.
The Mistrial
On May 14, 2022, I went on trial accused of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a child. The hardest thing that I’ve ever had to endure in my life was to sit quietly and listen to someone I took care of and loved eviserate me with lie after vicious lie. It was a surreal experience which was greatly intensified by the fact that Bobby Berina did absolutely nothing to shed light on the truth.
Primarily, he never once brought up the fact that the accuser confessed to lying about the whole thing back in 2019 or even how the accusation kept changing and evolving.
Also; when the accuser was on the stand giving her “testimony”, his line of questioning was observably weak during his cross examination and he passed up multiple opportunities to point out obvious lies and inconsistencies in her statements.
Because the accuser was actually still a virgin and had no idea that there would be a forensic exam done to determine that fact when she initially made up the accusation; the prosecutor’s strategy was to use a paid “expert witness” who claimed that just because there was absolutely no indication of her ever being sexually assaulted, raped, or even having sex before doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Bullshit! If a nine year old child had actually been repeatedly sexually assaulted by a full grown man over the course of five years, there should be overwhelming evidence to prove and corroborate the occurrence of that crime.
During that trial, I was internally compelled to take the stand in my own defense. Honestly, my anxieties were running high and I was very emotional due to everything that I had heard and witnessed, but felt like all I really had to do was tell the truth; so in that, I was able to evoke a bit of composure.
As soon as I was sworn in and took a seat on the stand, Bobby Berina sat back reclining in his chair and said to me; “So Mr. Dent, do you expect us to believe that the accuser is lying? Do you expect the jury to believe that?”
WTF!? My own attorney; who was appointed by the court to represent me, opened with a question that was nothing short of an attack on me- his client. He didn’t even ask that pointed of a question during his whole cross-examination of the accuser or the DA’s “witnesses”.
I felt like I had just been punched in the mouth, but I did my best to ground myself and adjust to realizing that my attorney was now, without a doubt, working against me.
All in all, the trial ended in a hung jury and was declared a mistrial by judge John Gauntt. I then had to go back to being locked up and once again sit and wait for a new trial date.
A few days latter, Bobby Barina sent me a letter which basically said that if I didn’t take the plea deal the the DA was offering, they would charge me with Continuous Sexual Assault of a child which carries a minimum sentence of twenty-five years to life if I were found guilty at trial. Once again I told them that there was no way I was going to plead guilty to a crime I didn’t commit – a crime they know I didn’t commit.
A Brief Recap
Before moving on, I would like to recap the progression of this accusation and charges in order to point out exactly how bogus they are as well as show how unprincipled the Bell County District Attorney’s office has been in their handling of this case.
- In 2018, I was accused of sexually assaulting a child everyday for a period of five years. That’s 1,825 consecutive days!
- I was arrested, charged, and indicted with Aggravated Sexual of a child. The indictment stated that in 2013 I penetrated the vagina of the accuser with the penis.
- In 2019, the accuser confessed to lying about being sexually assaulted.
- Instead of the charges being dropped and me being released, the DA offered me a plea deal for a lesser charge of Indecency with time served.
- When I refused their offer, they then formally charged and indicted me with Indecency by contact. That indictments stated that in 2018 I alledgedly touched the accuser on one occasion and exposed my penis on another.
- In 2022, the DA went ahead and tried me for Aggravated Sexual Assault even though they knew the accusation was false.
- The trial ended in a hung jury and was declared a mistrial.
- The DA then threatened to charge me with continuous sexual Assault if I didn’t accept their plea offer.
Now let’s analyze all of that before continuing.
First; if I was accused of sexually assaulting the child everyday for five years, why was I not charged with continuous sexual assault to begin with?
The DA only threatened me with that more serious charge after the mistrial hoping to scare and dissuade me from going back to trial and fighting their charges.
Secondly; why would the DA charge me with the lesser charge of Indecency more than a year after I had already been detained for sexual assault? It doesn’t make sense other than for the reasons that I previously stated.
The accuser confessed that she lied and they then hoped that if they offered me freedom for pledging guilty to a lesser charge, I would bite. That would have given them their conviction and absolved them of any wrong doing in their handling of this case.
Third; why was i not tried for Indecency during the sexual assault trial? Those charges should have been tried together. In order to sexually assault, I would have had to touch the accuser and expose my penis as stated in the second indictment right?
It’s all subterfuge! If they can’t get a guilty verdict for sexual assault then they plan to try me for Indecency in yet another trial if I’m exonerated.
What it All boils down to is the fact that they were so quick to demonize and throw me in jail that they didn’t even take the tie to do a thorough enough investigation into the most fundamental aspect of their accusation.
Now that they’ve realized the scope of their egregious error, they’ve tried every underhanded trick in their book to bury the truth and intimidate me into not fighting back, But, fight I shall!
Genesis 50:20
Everything that they contrive toward my detriment, God continuously works in my favor.
After the mistrial, I promptly requested Bobby Barina to resign as my attorney. Due to the fact that I have been held here over six years now, I have been able to save up enough to hire a legitimate legal representation instead of relying on the Public Defnder’s office.
Since retaining the Law Office of Cofer & Connelly to represent me, there have been a number of delays coming from the Bell County District Attorney’s office.
First; I was told that the prosecutor who tried the case initially, Christian Lain, had resigned and needed to be replaced. Since then there have been four other prosecutors to be assigned to this case and a number of different reasons why they were not ready to go to trial as the scheduled date neared.
Most recently, I was told that one prosecutor took an abrupt leave of absence. Another supposedly needed emergency surgery. Then I was told that the accuser was eight months pregnant and living out of state so she couldn’t travel to meet that date.
After that, the DA said that there were new allegations and they needed two additional months to investigate. Absolutely nothing came from that “investigation” of course, but more wasted time and taxpayer dollars!
Every time a trial date was close, there was some new excuse as to why they needed a continuance.
Then, late last year; in an unfortunate and tragic event, one of my attorneys passed away. As a result of his untimely death, we requested a continuance in order for another attorney from the firm to take his place.
Prior to that however, we had been ready to go to trial and I may have been exonerated already if not for the multiple back to back delays that the Bell County District Attorney’s office is actually responsible for.
The Conclusion
Through this ordeal, I have seen firsthand the extent of the brokenness prevalent at the core of the U.S. justice system. This brokenness isn’t simply the product of the disorganization or mismanagement within the system’s construct, it’s more so primarily stems from the willful misconduct and abuse of authority perpetrated by those who are entrusted to do the right thing, but unfortunately choose no to.
With that said, prosecutorial misconduct is the leading cause of wrongful convictions within the United States. In a lot of cases, evidence and information that would exonerate an individual accused of a crime are deliberately withheld from defense attorneys by prosecutors. That is a direct violation of the Michael Morton Act, Article 39.14 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedures and exactly what I am personally experiencing and fighting against at present.
A prosecutor’s job is to seek justice, not convictions. However, I have witnesses the latter being the undeniable motivating force behind the methods and schemes utilized, especially, by the Bell County District Attorney’s Office. Their main tactic had been to hold incarcerated individuals in pretrial limbo until the detained person breaks and is willing to except just about any plea offer in order to be at least one step closer to hopefully being free again someday. It is no wonder why 98% of the convictions in Texas come by way of defendants pleading out. This is accomplished through the imposition of excessive bail amounts, threats of more severe charges or lengthier prison time, coersced testimonies, as well as the appointment of overwhelmed public defenders who aren’t genuinely concerned with the outcome of the cases they are representing.
Finally; we have all heard numerous horror stories of innocent people being found guilty at trial for crimes that they didn’t commit only to be exonerate after after spending many years or even decades in prison.
Just recently, I observed that very scenario play out when a person who had been sentenced to 30 years had his conviction overturned after spending 6 years in the Texas Department of Corrections. He said that after the appeals judge reviewed his case, the judge reviewed his case, the judge said that there was no way that he could have committed the crime he was accused of. The worse part of it now is that, I hear, the District Attorney wants to try to file new charges against him. Outrageous!
If this type of misconduct from district attorneys continues to go unchecked and unpenalized; then no one is truly safe from an overzealous and out of control legal system . All it takes is for someone to falsely accuse you of a crime and you could be thrown in jail and fighting for your life as I and many others are.
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