Warrant issued in child sexual abuse case

A Sallisaw man is charged with a felony count of child sexual abuse following a report of alleged abuse to Sallisaw Police.

Thomas D. Holmes, 56, was charged July 22 in Sequoyah County District Court and an arrest warrant was issued for him the same day, according to court records. Sallisaw Police officer Josh Rogers said on July

Sallisaw Police officer Josh Rogers said on July 12 he made contact with a reporting party who said a juvenile under the age of 16 had told a family member they‚d allegedly been sexually assaulted by their father for the past five years.

The reporting party was able to provide two cell phones to authorities that contained messages between Holmes and the juvenile where Holmes was allegedly soliciting sexual favors from the juvenile, according to the probable cause affidavit in the case.

The minor said in a forensics interview the alleged sexual abuse began in 2017 in Florida when Holmes showed the minor a website containing sexual content involving two adults and a minor female. According to the affidavit, the incident happened three to four times and Holmes reportedly showed the minor how to get on private websites to view the sexual content. Holmes also reportedly had sexual intercourse with the minor on at least two occasions at a Sallisaw residence.

On July 13, Rogers reported they are able to obtain a search warrant for the Sallisaw residence where authorities seized a Dell home computer system.

The following day, Florida authorities told Rogers that Holmes was in custody and they were going to conduct an interview with him.

District Attorney Jack Thorp said if found guilty of the charge, it is punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $5,000, or both fine and imprisonment.