An investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations that began in 2023 has yielded 15 counts of child sexual abuse against a former Watonga resident.
According to court records, Thomas Ellison was questioned concerning sexual abuse of his child from the time the child was five years old until she was about nine years old. At the time the family lived in Watonga.
Forensic interviews with the child uncovered that she would sometimes go into her parents’ room if she became scared during the night and climb into bed with her parents. Ellison slept nude on the outside edge of the bed with the mother on the inside next to the wall. The child then would be next to Ellison, who would touch her private parts inappropriately, grind his pelvis against her. The child described the touching as feeling ‘nasty.’
Later, the report shows, Ellison would retrieve the child from school and take her to the family home where he would abuse her or cause her to perform oral sex on him. If either Ellison’s wife or son came home, he would stop. Sometimes, the child told forensic interviewers, he would stop if she asked him to, but other times he would not stop. She described what was done to her in detail and said it was painful.
On other occasions, Ellison would show the child pornographic movies, some of which featured Disney princesses in sexual positions and children being sexually abused by adults. She said he would sometimes try to recreate the acts portrayed in the pornography.
The charges against Ellison are five counts of sexual abuse of a child by vaginal intercourse, five counts of sexual abuse of a child by sodomy and five counts of sexual abuse of a child by anal intercourse.
In 2017 Ellison was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on charges of statutory rape and possession of child pornography. The rape charges were dismissed.
Each new count carries up to life imprisonment and requires the convicted to serve 85% of his or her sentence.
No trial date has been set and Ellison’s bond is $500,000. He is housed at the Great Plains Correctional Facility.