Dad Made Young Daughters Watch Porn, Charged with Child Endangerment, Say Officials
AMARILLO, Texas (CBS/AP) Jack Buckner II has been charged with child endangerment after forcing his 8 and 9-year-old daughters to watch online pornography, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
The father is accused of placing his daughters in danger of imminent mental impairment by showing them porno while they were visiting him. The girls' parents are divorced and shared custody of them.
"I'm sad because it's my daughters' dad," said the girls' mother, Crystal Buckner. "I'm glad that justice is going to be done and no one else can do what my ex-husband did. Even though he did do this he's still their dad."
Randall County District Attorney James Farren said last year that he wanted to charge Buckner using the state's indecency law but believed he couldn't because the law allows parents to show "harmful material" to their children.
Farren charged Buckner with two counts of child endangerment on Monday after Texas' attorney general advised Farren that he could prosecute the Amarillo father using a different statute.
Crystal Buckner says the incident happened early last year at her ex-husband's home. Her three children were watching a movie, though the youngest one had fallen asleep.
Buckner said the girls' father was at his computer and told the girls to come look at what was on the screen.
If convicted, Buckner faces up to two years in state jail and a $10,000 fine on each count.