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06-27-2007, 11:41 AM #1
TN: Former Dixie Stampede worker gets 9 years
Former Dixie Stampede worker gets 9 years
By JAMIE SATTERFIELD, satterfield@knews.com
June 27, 2007
SEVIERVILLE — A former Dixie Stampede worker accused of fondling child actors was sentenced today to a nine-year prison term after entering a "best interest" plea.
Armando Martinez Gonzalez technically refused to admit that he fondled the child actors he was responsible for at the popular Pigeon Forge attraction in 2004.
Instead he entered what’s known as an Alford plea in Sevier County Circuit Court, in which he concedes Assistant District Attorney General Steve Hawkins has enough evidence to convict him of the 12 counts of attempted aggravated sexual battery that will now go on his record.
Judge Rex Henry Ogle accepted the offered plea but told Gonzalez he has no doubt of his guilt.
"You can plead no contest all you want to, but you are flat-out guilty," Ogle said.
Gonzalez is an illegal immigrant and will be deported after serving his sentence. Under the plea he could be freed in as little as three years.
Hawkins blamed in part what he said was a flaw in Tennessee’s judicial system for prompting his office to offer Gonzalez a deal.
Gonzalez worked as an elf in Dixie Stampede’s Christmas show and was tasked with helping child actors, under the age of 13, in and out of a wagon. Hawkins said that he would fondle the children while carrying out that task.
Dixie Stampede, which is owned in part by superstar Dolly Parton, faces civil lawsuits for allegedly failing to protect child actors and ignoring prior complaints about Gonzalez.
More details as they develop online in Thursday’s News Sentinel.
Copyright 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_ne...605001,00.html
Judge Rex Henry Ogle accepted the offered plea but told Gonzalez he has no doubt of his guilt.
"You can plead no contest all you want to, but you are flat-out guilty," Ogle said.
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06-27-2007, 11:45 AM #2
Hammer time...for real
I hope he rots in prisonNever look at another flag. Remember, that behind Government, there is your country, and that you belong to her as you do belong to your own mother. Stand by her as you would stand by your own mother
Laura Loomer - Woke up this morning to a @nytimes article...
03-27-2024, 11:36 PM in General Discussion