A Texas man faces charges for a “horrific case of child abuse and torture,” according to the York Police Department.
David Calhoun, 38, was convicted on a number of charges in Texas, police said.
The department said its involvement started on Aug. 2, 2022, when officers were called to a hotel in the 3700 block of South Lincoln Avenue, where they found a juvenile “that appeared to be the victim of child abuse/neglect.”
An investigation lead to officers uncovering the child abuse and torture, which occurred in Texas, police said. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services assisted in finding safe haven for the child, while the Homeland Security investigations division, FBI, Nebraska Attorney General’s Office and York police uncovered, “years of abuse, sexual assaults and torture.”
“Experts on the topic have described it as the worse they have ever seen,” York Police Chief Edward Tjaden said in a release.
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According to a court document with details about the Aug. 2, 2022 incident in York, officers arrested four adults after a domestic disturbance at the hotel. Two of the adults, a man and woman, were with a minor from Galveston, Texas. An investigation revealed the man had worked for Calhoun and had seen Calhoun severely abusing the child.
The child had been abandoned by his parents and was in the care of Calhoun. Because of the abuse, the man agreed when the child asked to ride with him, the woman and the other two adults from Texas to North Dakota. They stopped in York to rest on Aug. 2, 2022.
According to the police account of the evening, the child had no identification and law enforcement was unable to confirm his identity, home of record or guardian responsible for his care.
Further investigation led authorities to believe there had been “significant physical and sexual abuse” committed against the child, who also had physical injuries consistent with his statements about abuse.
An investigation later unfolded in Texas, leading to charges against Calhoun for abusing multiple children. The defendant was convicted in Texas of one count of assault family violence-impede breath/circulation, four counts of sexual assault of a child, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and seven counts of aggravated assault-family.
According to KLTV, an ABC affiliate in Texas, a jury convicted Calhoun on the charges and sentenced him to 10 life sentences. The station, citing court evidence and a Cook County, Texas news release, reported Calhoun began caring for the victims around 2017 and began abusing them shortly thereafter. The abuse took place in several cities.
KLTV quoted the release as describing the abuse as “almost indistinguishable from the type of torture that POWs and political prisoners suffered during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.”
York police worked with Texas authorities on the investigation.
“Patience and diligent work at what was first perceived as a typical call for service brought long-deserved safety and justice for multiple juvenile victims,” Tjaden said in the release. “I am proud to work with these officers and commend their dedication.”
According to Nebraska court records, the child found in York was turned over to Nebraska DHHS after the August 2022 incident. The child was later placed in a foster home. An Aug. 12, 2022 report noted the child was doing well in the home. DHHS facilitated medical appointments, including dental and mental health services.
Authorities were eventually able to contact the child’s mother. A court document from October of 2022 notes the mother was granted supervised visitation rights, but the child was to remain in foster care. The court upheld the decision to keep the child in state care in January of 2023, after an objection and request for reunification from the mother.
“There is a compelling reason that reunification, adoption, guardianship, and relative placement are not in the child’s best interests,” the court said.
The child's father has not appeared at any court appearances in the case.
The state is working toward a permanent placement plan for the child, according to court records. The child was placed in multiple foster homes over the course of more than a year, starting in August of 2022 through at least November of 2023. He was eventually placed with a relative through the foster care program.
The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for May 23.
PHOTOS: The sun sets on Bradshaw, Highway 34
A beautiful sunset over Bradshaw along Highway 34.
The sun sets over Bradshaw along Highway 34 on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.
Highway 34 sunset
The sky is beautiful as the sun sets over Bradshaw and Highway 34.
Highway 34 sunset
Bradshaw is silhouetted as the sun sets on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
Highway 34 sunset
The sun sets over Highway 34.
Highway 34 sunset
A pivot irrigation system is contrasted by the sunset along Highway 34.
Highway 34 sunset
A beautiful sunset on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024.