2023
READERS’ CHOICE
Space Cowboys’ Storey named Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year - Page 3
GET SEEN CALL 713-371-3600
ADVERTISE HERE! WEDNESDAY • OCTOBER 9, 2024
Meadows Place man sentenced to life in prison for continuous sexual assault of a young child Staff Reports A Meadows Place man was sentenced late last month to life without parole in state prison for continuous sexual assault of a young child. Robert Richard Tassin, 46, was also sentenced to 20 years each on two additional charges of sexual assault of a child, according to a news release from the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office. 268th District Court Presiding Judge Steve Rogers imposed the sentences. Tassin pleaded guilty to all three offenses on July 23. Assistant District Attorney Alycia Curtis presented evidence during a September 23 sentencing hearing that Tassin began sexually abusing a family member when the child was approximately 8 years old and continued the abuse for more than fourteen years, according to the release. During this time, Tassin abused the victim on an almost daily basis and was able to keep the child quiet by convincing the child that sexual contact between an adult and child was “normal” and through what are known as “grooming techniques” and other forms of emotional abuse, according to the release. “The breadth and magnitude of sexual abuse in this case was hard to comprehend,” Curtis said in the release. “All children deserve to feel safe in their homes, and Tassin betrayed his role as caretaker and protector, manipulating this child for almost fifteen years for his own sexual gain. I’m so proud of the child for their bravery in coming forward, and for helping to put Tassin where he belongs and unable to prey on any child for the rest of his life.” Curtis commended the Meadows Plac e Pol ic e Department for its investigation of this case, and expressed immense gratitude to Child Advocates of Fort Bend for the therapy services the agency has provided to the victim since the time the abuse came to light. “Betrayal on this level is accomplished by a lack of humanity,” District Attorney Brian Middleton said. “To
SEE ASSAULT PAGE 2
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 49 • No. 41 • $1.00
1st Amendment lawsuit against county, Fagan could soon go to trial By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Barring an appeal of a recent judicial ruling, attorneys for Fort Bend County could soon be defending a federal civil lawsuit in which a self-styled citizen journalist claims that Sheriff Eric Fagan and his deputies infringed his First Amendment rights as he gathered news for his social media accounts. A federal magistrate has already ruled that the sheriff violated the plaintiff’s rights.
Justin Pulliam, a Fort Bend County resident, has for several years been posting videos of encounters between county law enforcement officers and citizens and posting them on his Facebook account and a YouTube channel called “Corruption Report.” The videos often depict Pulliam being confrontational with officers. In the lawsuit, originally filed in a Houston federal court in December 2022, Pulliam claims that Fagan infringed on his First
Amendment rights when he ordered deputies to remove him from the site of a July 2021 press conference at Jones Creek Ranch, which had been closed during the investigation of a body that was discovered there. News media reporters on the scene were asked to gather at the park’s entrance, but when Pulliam arrived, Fagan is heard on a video shot by Pulliam telling deputies that he was not part of the media and told them to escort him back to his car, about 80 feet
away. Separately, the lawsuit argues that Sgt. Taylor Rollins violated Pulliam’s rights in December 2021 when he arrested him for refusing to step away from the scene of a welfare check of a man known by the department to have mental illness and who owned firearms. Pulliam and his attorneys assert that Pulliam was within his rights because the man’s mother had granted him permission to be on the property.
On September 25, U.S. District Judge George C Hanks, Jr. signed an order in which he accepted the findings of U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew M. Edison in a September 5 memorandum. In that memorandum and recommendations, Edison granted in part and denied in part a motion for summary judgement filed by Pulliam’s attorneys, who are with the Institute for Justice, a non-
SEE LAWSUIT PAGE 2
FBISD nurse lauded for saving neighbor’s life
Natalie Bostic, second from right, a nurse at Fort Bend ISD’s James Reese Career & Technical Center, has been awarded the Certificate of Merit from the American Red Cross, one of its highest honors, for saving the life of Lionel Perro (second from right). Courtesy Fort Bend ISD
Community Reports Natalie Bostic, a nurse at Fort Bend ISD’s James Reese Career & Technical Center, has been awarded the Certificate of Merit from the American Red Cross, one of its highest honors, for saving her neighbor’s life on March
2, 2024. Lionel Perro collapsed while helping Bostic with yard work, and she immediately performed CPR, keeping him alive until paramedics arrived, according to a story on the FBISD website, fortbendisd.com.
Bush High School nurse Kimberly Holland nominated Bostic for the award. Bostic said she doesn’t consider herself a hero, “just a person in the right place, at the right time, with the right skills.” CEO of the Texas Gulf
Coast American Red Cross Shawn Schulze presented Bostic with her certificate, signed by the President Joe Biden, along with a medal and pin for her bravery. “Natalie is definitely a hero,” Schulze said. “We don’t give these awards out lightly.
I couldn’t be prouder.” Schulze told her “someone is still walking the earth because of the work of your hands.” Perro expressed his gratitude. “I’m glad just to be here,” he said. “God brought me back for a reason.”
Fort Bend County Master Gardeners to host plant sale on Oct. 12 Community Reports
Robert Richard Tassin, 46, of Meadows Place, has been sentenced to life in prison for continuous sexual assault of a young child. Courtesy Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office
Visit www.FortBendStar.com
The Extension Greenhouse in Rosenberg is full of green plants in preparation for the annual vegetable/herb plant sale hosted each fall by the Fort Bend County Master Gardeners on Saturday, October 12. The sale will be open from 9 a.m. to noon or sold out at the Extension Education Center, 1402 Band Road in Rosenberg. Attendees are advised to come early for the best variety. Among the plants doing well is Pak Choi - Joi Choi. The heat-resistant variety rapidly produces miniature
heads of pak choi whose crispy pastel stalks and deep green leaves are ready to eat in record time. The compact, vase-shaped heads are mild, sweet and crunchy. They should be planted 5 to 6 inches apart in a bed or container that gets full sun. Plants will grow 6 to 8 inches tall. To help them, feed them two or three times during the growing season with fish emulsion or another high nitrogen fertilizer. To harvest, cut the whole vase-shaped little heads when they are plump and well filled out. Chop coarsely for delicious quick stir fries or braise in a little butter and
broth just until tender-crisp. Joi Choi is mild and sweet tasting and full of vitamins and antioxidants. The Pak Choi - Joi Choi is one of 20 varieties of vegetables that will be available at the Saturday sale along with eight varieties of herb plants. Learn more at 2024-Fall-VHS-BWBooket-Final-9-24-2024.pdf (fbmg.org) For t Bend Cou nty Master Gardeners Steve Schmerbeck, Carol Gaas, and Blanca Walsh help raise 20 varieties of vegetable plants and eight varieties of herb plants for this weekend’s sale.
Courtesy Fort Bend County Master Gardeners