Federal trial set in alleged child sexual abuse case

Apr. 17—A federal judge set a trial date for a McAlester man accused of sexually abusing a child in

Jeffrey Brent Thomas, 46, was indicted in the Eastern District of Oklahoma in 2021 with three counts of aggravated sexual abuse in Indian Country and abusive sexual contact in Indian Country.

Records show two counts of felony lewd molestation filed against Thomas in Pittsburg County District Court remain active against as well as three counts of felony child sexual abuse in Choctaw Nation District Court.

Thomas was recently sentenced in February to serve 46 months in a federal prison for aggravated assault of a federal officer with a deadly and dangerous weapon in connection to his arrest for the current charges in Tulsa County.

Investigators began their investigation in January 2021 after the child told her mother about Thomas touching her while he was driving the child to a residence, the affidavit states.

According to the affidavit, the child told investigators she was scared that Thomas would attempt to harm the child by coming forward to her mother.

During a forensic interview with investigators at PC-CARE, the child said Thomas began touching her sometime in January 2020 and would do it when her mother was not home or was asleep, the affidavit states.

The child's mother told investigators that she did confront Thomas after being told about what was happening and that Thomas never denied the incident during the confrontation, the affidavit states.

According to the affidavit, after Thomas was taken into custody on a misdemeanor warrant, investigators spoke with the man regarding the allegation made by the eight-year-old child.

Thomas told investigators that he and the child "had a great relationship" and he "couldn't understand why anyone would make the allegations against him" and that he "has never done anything that could be misconstrued as inappropriate," the report states.

Records show a jury trial in the matter is set to begin Aug. 8, 2024, at the federal courthouse in Muskogee.

___

(c)2024 the McAlester News-Capital (McAlester, Okla.)

Visit the McAlester News-Capital (McAlester, Okla.) at mcalesternews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.