DA Explains “Swingers Club” Plea Deal

TYLER (AP/Staff) � The Smith County district attorney explains his reason for arranging a plea deal for six adults accused of participating in what prosecutors say was a sordid swinger’s club. Judge Jack Skeen ruled that the defendants be sentenced to time served and then freed in the case, in which children as young as 5 were forced to perform sex in Mineola. The three men and three women pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of injury to a child in an unexpected end to a 3-year investigation. Three of them previously were sentenced to life in prison, only to have their convictions overturned. District Attorney Matt Bingham said he still believes the defendants deserve life in prison but offered the plea bargain for the sake of the child victims. They will not be required to register as sex offenders.

Patrick “Booger Red” Kelly, Shauntel Mayo and Jamie Pittman had previously been sentenced to life in prison � Kelly for aggravated sexual assault of a child, and Mayo and Pittman for organized criminal activity. Mayo and Pittman had their convictions overturned. Only Dennis Pittman, who’s appealing his life sentence, didn’t reach a deal.