LA PORTE, Texas – A La Porte man accused of raping a 13-year-old girl more than 20 years ago kept children’s panties and hair as "trophies" of other assaults, according to court documents released Friday. He is ultimately charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of child pornography for cases involving two victims who have come forward to police.
In the first case that was reported to police, Buford Lloyd Crowell, 67, was arrested in early December after his sister called police when she found an "incredibly disturbing" video of him inappropriately touching a child believed to be under 10, according to the documents.
Court records state Crowell loaned a phone to his sister, whose granddaughter then found the video on the phone and showed it to her. Investigators said the video shows a man, whom she identified as her brother, sexually assaulting a child.
His sister called police to report the video.
"He's a very, very sick, twisted individual," said the mother of the child who was captured in the alleged video.
Her daughter said she hopes that Crowell remains behind bars. She said she isn't letting what she says happened to her keep her from moving forward in life. She wanted to encourage anyone who may have been sexually assaulted to come forward.
"Contact the police and tell your parents so he can get locked up for life," said the survivor.
In this case, Crowell posted bail of $90,000 on the three charges.
Court documents allege that Buford Lloyd Crowell was at times a lead cook for the La Porte lodge #857 during some gatherings where Crowell allegedly sexually assaulted young girls. https://t.co/eK3lLWL3V5 @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/SaRtSzsY0j
— KPRC2 Rose-Ann Aragon (@KPRC2RoseAnn) December 14, 2018
According to the documents, a search of Crowell’s home turned up hundreds of photos of naked girls, a plastic baggie with several pairs of children’s panties inside and other plastic baggies containing hair.
"There's no real way to explain the gut-wrenching turn that I felt when six police officers rolled up to his house and pulled him out," said Robert Davidoski Jr., Crowell's neighbor.
After La Porte police announced Crowell’s arrest on Dec. 6, a woman came forward and said she had been sexually assaulted by him while she was a volunteer at the La Porte Masonic Lodge, where Crowell was working as a cook, according to the documents.
The woman claimed that Crowell raped her at least eight times over the course of a year and a half, starting in 1997. She told detectives that Crowell’s final attack on her was violent and painful.
Crowell has been charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and possession of child pornography. He was being held in the Harris County Jail on a $30,000 bond for the third aggravated sexual assault charge after the survivor of the alleged sexual assaults starting in 1997 came forward to police.
Meanwhile, neighbors said the man had access to children for years.
"He's been a fixture in this neighborhood here for 30 years," Davidoski said. "He was one of the head masons here in La Porte. He was a fixture in the La Porte Livestock Show and Rodeo. He spent a lot of time around children."
"We do believe there are more victims, and we do encourage them to come forward," said a spokesman for the La Porte Police Department.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.
Editor’s note: Police said earlier reports that Crowell had been released on bond were due to a system error that showed he had been released. The above story has been corrected.