A 10-year-old boy, R., was physically abused by his mother, L., and sexually abused by Nelson Head, his homeschool teacher and mother’s boyfriend.
R. was diagnosed with Autism in 2017 at the age of 10 and was removed from school around the same time. Head, who lived with R. and L. at their shared Wichita Falls home, began to homeschool R. When the two were home alone, Head repeatedly sexually abused R., despite R. continually refusing and asking for the abuse to stop . During this period, R. was physically abused by his mother, who either did not know about or did not try to stop Head’s sexual abuse.
The abuse came to light in September 2017 when Wichita Falls police received a call from R., who said that he was going to wait until his mother fell asleep and kill her with a knife. A police officer took R. to the local campus of North Texas State Hospital for evaluation, where he complained of physical abuse. R. revealed Head’s sexual abuse in the CPS investigation that followed. His mother gave up custody, and Head received two consecutive life sentences. R. testified at Head’s 2021 trial that he has found happiness with a prospective adoptive family.
Date: September 15, 2017
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas
