Law&Crime Sidebar - 'Monster' HIV-Positive Baseball Coach Who Raped 12-Year-Old Girl Learns His Fate

Episode Date: August 7, 2024

Donovan Sheppard entered a guilty plea last week to multiple charges of molestation, rape, and exposing someone to AIDS. Oklahoma authorities say the woman Sheppard was living with held him at gunpoint after she caught him assaulting her 12-year-old daughter. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber breaks down Sheppard’s punishment with predator catcher and founder of TruBlu Chris Hansen.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Download the FREE Upside App at https://upside.app.link/sidebar to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger and Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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It is one of the most horrific cases we have ever covered here on Sidebar. An Oklahoma youth baseball coach caught sexually assaulting a child. And now the victim and her family, they're getting some justice and a child rapist may be locked away forever. Renowned predator catcher Chris Hansen joins me to help analyze this truly disturbing case. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime.

I'm Jesse Weber. So we first told you about this case here on Sidebar back in January, and that is when Donovan Shepard was arrested for raping the daughter of the woman that he had been living with. Let's process that for a second. Well, now, He has pled guilty to these heinous crimes. And Shepard, if you recall, was a coach for the youth baseball team, Oklahoma Aftermath. He was apparently out at a bar and more Oklahoma. He allegedly got into a fight, and police say a woman that he was living with came to pick him up and took him to Oklahoma City. But while she went to bed, he apparently didn't.

No, she went looking for him, and what does she find? she finds him raping her 12-year-old daughter. She actually held him at gunpoint until the police got there. And if that wasn't bad enough, when Shepard was arrested, police say both Shepard and this woman told them Shepard was HIV positive. Now, the victim told police this wasn't even the first time he sexually abused her, that Shepard had attacked her six different times,

even on her 12th birthday. So Shepard, he was arrested, charged, long list of crimes, rape, lewd molestation, exposing others to AIDS. Shepard was supposed to have a preliminary hearing in this case, where the prosecution would present their evidence to see if there's enough to be bound over for trial. It's supposed to happen last week, but instead, according to the court records, Shepard entered a guilty plea to a total of eight counts. And according to the court website, it appears he was sentenced to life in prison,

plus an additional 62 years, but also with the possibility of parole after he does 35 years. We believe he's 40 years old right now. And he also has to pay court costs and put money into the Victims Compensation Fund. Hey, I want to quickly thank Upside for sponsoring this episode of Sidebar. So Upside is a free app that gets you cashback on daily essentials like gas and groceries. So when I pump my gas, and yes, I pump my own gas, when I do, I can use the free Upside app. I mean, why not get cash back when you fill up your tank, right? And yes, this is actual real cashback.

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I want to bring in right now. Renowned journalist, Predator Catcher Chris Hansen, host of Takedown on Trueblue.com and also the podcast of predators I've caught. Chris, so good to see you again. You and I actually talked about this case back in January. We sure did. And talk about heinous. I mean, this is the very definition of a predator, Jesse.

And as you know, Oklahoma is. one of the states that has a law where knowingly exposing another human to HIV is an additional crime here. So that's one of the eight counts to which he pleaded guilty. But who does this? A monster does this. And I remember a few years back having a conversation with Polk County, Florida Sheriff Brady Judd. And he runs the Sheriff's Office there. And that's one of the agencies with which we do our sting operations around the country. By the way, for people don't know, awesome like yeah he's the character i've known i've known him for 40 years because he was a lieutenant and i worked out of florida and his position is in these extreme cases these guys should be

opposed to the should be you know potentially given the uh uh the death penalty and when he first said it and i love grady and i've known grady as i mentioned for for many many years and he's a big thinker. And I was a little surprised to hear him say that, that, that, you know, the death penalty for a predator. But, you know, I'm starting to think in a case like this, I'm not opposed to that. You know, I mean, you got a guy here who, you know, repeatedly molested this poor child in the most, you know, graphic and violent way and exposes the child to HIV. And then, to find out that the mother knew something about this in the past, it apparently didn't report it until she caught him on this occasion and held him at gunpoint. You know, there's a special

place for a criminal like this. And I don't think the death penalty would be going too far, quite honestly. It's interesting you say that because, you know, the death penalty we have in place for if you're going to take a life, then there should be a life in exchange, right? It's the ultimate punishment. And I would say to you, you know, we talk about these kinds of cases all the time, that sexual abuse has on these people's lives. But when you expose somebody as well to a potentially fatal disease, that's a real problem as well.

And that's why, I mean, I'm not gonna give my two cents on whether or not the death penalty should be warranted there. But I'll tell you, I understand why he says it, particularly in a case of agreement. That's my point. You know, we are very careful in society, you know, about the death penalty, as we should be.

Because you don't wanna make any mistakes there, obviously. But for a guy like this, You have to wonder about that. You know, we just finished an investigation a week or so ago, and the episode will be on this week on watchtruebleu.com on a streaming crime network. And we caught a man who was a police officer for 20 years, both in Michigan and in Florida. His current job is working in security at a school for the deaf in Michigan. And here he is trying to meet a teenage girl after a very graphic conversation.

And we watch him walk in, he locks, both locks on the door, and he scoots right in on the decoy, boising as a child, and I walk on and confront him. And he admits the whole thing. That's offensive. That guy should go to prison. You have to wonder about what he's done in his past as a law enforcement officer. But in this case, in Oklahoma, you know,

you have to wonder what this guy has done in his past. And obviously, they've looked into that. And you wonder, did that have anything to do with, him, you know, taking this plea pretty much on the nose and not going to trial. Well, yeah, I think it would have been a very tough case for him to defend. Do you see this often, someone who's living with someone else and whether the abuse happens to a stepchild or the child of a boyfriend and girlfriend, they insert themselves into that kind of situation. Do you see this happening a lot?

Yeah, it's a common predator tactic. You know, the reality is, is alarming as the predators, we catch are, you know, those cases, the vast majority of child assaults, sexual assaults, and molestations take place with somebody they know, a family friend, a relative, a stepfather. And so, you know, those make up the vast majority of these cases across the country. Does the fact that he raped this girl, she was so young, an 112th birthday, I mean, we cover these cases what what are some of the ways they they this happens and what are some of the justice of the reasons you've heard predators justify this behavior well I think some of them will say that they were themselves molested as a child and you know they're acting out

because they normalized this behavior obviously the potential of the substance abuse problem weighs in on it doesn't justify it but it clouds the judgment and the you know, the control of one's actions, but, you know, I've always said, Jesse, and you know this, these guys fall into three different categories, the opportunist, a guy who's just addicted to this fantasy, and a stone cold predator. And this guy, in this case, in Oklahoma, fits into that category. He is a bad guy. And I'd be willing to go out on a ledge here and say that this isn't the first time he's assaulted a child. And especially inserting himself as a youth baseball coach.

What impact does this, you know, I mean, that's the part two, right? When you think about that, you talk about ingratiate themselves in that kind of environment. Talking about this young girl, though, what impact does this have on a child for the rest of her life? Well, I've talked to, you know, dozens and dozens of therapists and psychiatrists over the years posing that same question. so I can understand the damage here. But it's incalculable. I mean, imagine being 12. And before you're even able to process an intimate relationship,

before you're even legally able to give consent, this is forced upon you. And it's forced upon you in the home of your mother, the one person you trust to protect you. And if it's true that it happened before and she looked the other way, that damage is horrific and could last a lifetime. And is this girl going to get the kind of treatment and therapy she needs to get through this

and to make some sense of it and to, you know, you hope it's one of those cases where, you know, you don't want to happen to anybody, but you hope it's one of those cases where the person says, okay, I can get past this at some point and then becomes a therapist or a law enforcement officer and tries to make sure. this doesn't happen to another girl. And I've seen this. And these are amazing, brave people who go out there who've been victimized. I mean, look at Elizabeth's smart. Look at the absolute horror and terror she endured for, what, 18 months? And to come out on the other end as this poised, incredible young woman, mother, wife, and activist that she is, you know, that's amazing.

And not everybody can do that, but you have to hope at least that something good can come out of it because you know this poor girl has been victimized in the in the most acute way and let's talk about the parent here because again we don't know the full extent of her knowledge about what was happening to her child but in general somebody and sometimes it's not that extreme where they have the opportunity to hold the perpetrator by gunpoint but the parents of the children who are abused I imagine they take on some of the they have a sense of guilt right and they take on some of the blame. You'd have to believe. You'd have to believe they would. I mean, look, whatever happened prior to this incident, you know, the mother took action here, held him accountable, held the gun,

you know, and had every right to do so and made sure that he was arrested and prosecuted. Now, what happened before then, you know, we don't know for sure there were reports that this wasn't the first time. Having said that, she took action and you can only hope and pray that, you you know, this little girl gets the help that she needs to cope with this. Because it's the most tragic thing I can imagine is the victimization of a child. And that's why we continue to do these predator investigations that take down shows on True Blue. And guys continue to show up. So I don't think that's changing anytime soon.

And you hope that you can have an impact by holding these guys accountable when you can before they actually attack a child. And you create awareness in a dialogue where parents are vigilant and have an open conversation with their kids and say, look, these guys are out there. And it's not just on the dark web. It's on the common social media platforms. Our kids are exposed to on a daily basis. Now, as I mentioned in the court record, our understanding is it seems very unlikely that, but it's possible that you could get out of prison one day. But generally speaking, predators that commit these kinds of crimes. They go to prison. Are they rehabilitated when they come out or even while they're still in prison? Do they ever rehabilitate? Do they ever recognize what they did?

Did they ever understand the error of their ways? Talk to me about that. Some claim that they're better, that they can survive in the outside world. More often than not, in my experience, there is an opportunity to reoffend. And look, this isn't a simple issue. And there's not a simple answer. And these guys are not all the same personality trait, character trait, criminal mind. You've got guys who are on the young end of the age scale, who are opportunists, socially inept. They use the Internet to fulfill a fantasy, try to meet a girl.

And in their mind, it's Romeo and Juliet. A lot of those cases, and I've seen them, and we go back on the podcast, predators I've caught, and revisit these cases. Some of those guys take their punishment, take their monitoring, get their treatment, and they never re-offend. They're the hardcore heavy hitters like this guy, lock them up, lock them up forever. You know, that's the end of it. You can't fix them.

And there are these guys in the middle who are the most difficult cases because they are everyday mainstream guys, doctors, they're businessmen, they're, you know, guys, some people in our business have gotten caught up in this. And they have this fantasy of being sexually, with an underage child, a boy or girl. And they know there's a 20% chance of getting caught, just like there's a 20% chance of having fentanyl in your heroin and dying of an overdose.

But they do it anyway, because they have this need to fulfill this fantasy. And for whatever combination of reasons, they can't control it, and they show up in our investigations. And we see it all the time. So that middle area is the most vexing, to me, at least. And again, I'm not a therapist. I'm not a psychiatrist.

You know, I just come face to face with, you know, five or six hundred of these guys, and that's my experience, and along with having talked to people who are expert in this field. But I can tell you the other thing that's in play here is when you talk to a psychiatrist with the U.S. Marshal Service, for instance, who goes into prisons and talks to these guys in an environment where they have nothing to lose by being honest, those psychiatrists would tell you that without exception, there is a connection between viewing child porn and offending in virtually every case. And so that's why we treat the possession and distribution and creation of child porn so seriously.

And that's why the sentences are so severe is because every time that one of those pictures or images is made, it's the violation of a child. And it's a continued violation every time somebody views an image like that. Pretty sick stuff, as always, you know, we talk about with this. but you know so thank god he was caught you know thank god the mother yeah he's caught the right thing and it's it's it's a horrible tragedy that this 12 year old child the 12 year old at least at the time of the offense has to deal with it we can only hope for the best for her and that you know she gets the help and guidance she needs and let me say this you know he pled guilty this doesn't go to trial

she doesn't have to relive that experience uh so that's a good thing as well but he's locked up uh chris hanson thank you so much for coming on you check out anytime you got it take check you can take a look at a takedown on true blue also the podcast predators i've caught with chris hanson chris always appreciate your time so good seeing you thanks so much thanks jesse see you soon all right everybody that's all we have for you right now here on sidebar thank you so much for joining us and as always please subscribe on apple podcast spotify youtube wherever you get your podcasts i'm jesse weber speak to you next time You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus.

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