A man accused of sexually assaulting the mother of his two children at knifepoint in her New Boston, Texas, home in September asked for a lower bail at a court hearing Friday.
Brandon Harrison, 31, has been in jail since his arrest Sept. 15 following a brief standoff with the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office and New Boston police who’d responded to a call concerning a woman who was being held in her home at knifepoint. Deborah Moore of the Bowie County Public Defender’s Office told 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart that Harrison is willing to wear an electronic monitor and distance himself from his alleged victim.
“He wants to get far far away from here,” Moore said.
Moore said Harrison wants to move several hours away and live with a sister in Little Elm, Texas. Harrison told Lockhart that he wants to reconnect with his children and prove his innocence.
Lockhart said the nature of the alleged offense concerns him and delayed ruling on whether to lower Harrison’s bail from its current $250,000.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said her offices opposes any bond reduction. Crisp called the alleged victim’s mother to testify.
The mother said her daughter has been struggling since the alleged assault and that she and her children have moved in with her. The mother said she and her family are in fear of Harrison and that a note they found in his possessions after his arrest makes her think Harrison might have been planning a murder suicide.
Lockhart asked Crisp if the state is in possession of the alleged note. Crisp told Lockhart she would look into the matter.
Lockhart scheduled the case for a pretrial hearing next month. Harrison’s case is scheduled for trial May 15. If convicted, he faces five to 99 years or life in prison on each of two counts of aggravated sexual assault with a deadly weapon.
