Rusk man gets 40 years for sexual assault
Tyler Morning Telegraph
Feb. 12, 2008
JACKSONVILLE - A Cherokee County man will spend 40 years in prison after pleading guilty last month to aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Forty-four-year-old Gordon Neal Mathis, of Rusk, was convicted on six counts of aggravated sexual assault of one child that happened over a two-year period, Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth told the Tyler Paper on Monday. Lead prosecutor in the case was Rachel Patton-Rogers.
In November 2007, Mathis was sentenced to eight years in prison by U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis for possession of child pornography. In November 2006, authorities were notified that he possessed sexually explicit material, according to earlier reports. A search of his Cherokee County residence unearthed more than 300 digital images and 10 video clips involving child pornography on computers and compact discs.
From 2001-04, Mathis was a U.S. Army Reservist. He served in both Afghanistan and in Iraq, defense attorney Don Killingsworth said. He asked the judge to consider his military experience and his post traumatic stress disorder.
Mathis will register as a sex offender and undergo sex offender treatment after his prison term, as per the judge's ruling.
