A Tyler County man will be going to prison for the rest of his life for multiple cases of child sexual abuse, and surprisingly he agreed to the sentence as part of a plea deal.
Tyler County District Attorney Lucas Babin says Sidney Fletcher McCollum, of Warren, was facing trial on multiple counts of Sexual Assault of a Child, Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child, and Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child. However, Babin said McCollum agreed to a p[lea deal which resulted in him going away for life.
Babin said “It’s not every day you get a defendant to agree to a life sentence, but I think he saw the handwriting on the wall.”
According to Babin, the case against McCollum contained overwhelming evidence showing that he had a history of dating single mothers and sexually abusing their young daughters.
Prosecutors also charged one of the mothers for participating with McCollum in the sexual abuse of her child. However, Babin said that due to potential weaknesses in that case, the prosecution dropped the charge against her.
The plea deal and sentencing was presided over by State District Judge Delinda Gibbs Walker.