A Lincoln County jury has found a Chandler man guilty of committing four crimes against a minor and has recommended he serve two life terms without the possibility of parole on two of the charges.
The jury also recommended that John Joshua Bonner, 46, serve not less than 25 years each on the other two charges.
Assistant District Attorney Kelly Trimble, who prosecuted the case, said after the jury returned the guilty verdicts on all four counts, “On behalf of the District Attorney’s Office, we are so thankful for the hard work of the jurors, members of law enforcement, and the other professionals involved in this case. We are thrilled for the child victim in this case – justice was truly served.”
Associate District Judge Sheila Kirk, who presided over the trial, scheduled sentencing for Bonner at 9 a.m. March 18. She has ordered a pre-sentencing investigation.
Judge Kirk ordered Bonner be remanded to the custody of the sheriff.
Bonner was represented by attorney Shelley Levisay. A woman who was also charged in the case entered a blind plea in 2023 and is currently doing threelengthy prison sentences.
Four felony charges originally were filed in Lincoln County District Court April 4, 2022 against Angela Renee Gordon, 42, and four felony counts were filed the same day against Bonner.
Bonner was charged with two counts of first degree rape and two counts of lewd acts to a child under 1 2 years of age.
Last week’s trial for Bonner was his second on the charges. The first ended in a hung jury last fall and the state announced then it would retry the case early this year.
District Judge John Canavan set the cause for the felony disposition docket at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2024 and the trial began Feb. 5, 2024.
On the second day of her jury trial in February of 2023, Gordon announced she wished to enter a blind plea. A judge advised Gordon of her rights and that the charges are 85 percent crimes.
Court records show that Gordon was standing trial on two counts of lewd acts to a child under 12 and one for enabling child abuse.
The judge found that Gordon fully understood the nature and purposes of the proceeding and fully competent to enter a plea. Gordon entered blind pleas of guilty, the pleas were received by the judge and Gordon was found guilty as charged.
Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Thompson and Lori McConnell handled Gordon’s case for the state and Gordon was represented by Patrick Thompson.
Gordon was originally charged with sexual abuse of a child under 12, lewd or indecent acts to a child under 16, performing a lewd act in the presence of a minor and enabling child sexual abuse.
The information states the crimes occurred between Jan. 1, 2015 and Dec. 31, 2015.
The information in Bonner’s charges accused him of committing the crimes during the same time as Gordon’s charges. It also stated Bonner was 39 at the time those crimes were committed.
The crimes that Gordon and Bonner were convicted of occurred in a house in Chandler in Lincoln County, the information states.
The victim of the alleged criminal offenses was 8 at the time, according to the information.
In an affidavit filed by Chandler Police Officer James Wells, he stated he was contacted on March 9, 2021 by Suni Cauthern, a client case manager with the West Texas Children’s Advocacy Center. Cauthern conducted a forensic interview with the victim, Wells was informed.
The victim reportedly disclosed the times she and her younger sister were sexually assaulted by Bonner and Gordon.
According to the affidavit, onAug. 9, 2021 Wells spoke to Rhonda Wood with DHS who told him she had contacted Gordon and she was going to meet Gordon that day at her residence in Claremore. Wells statedWood, he and two deputies met with Gordon at her residence.
Wood reportedly conducted her business with Gordon. Gordon advised that she and Bonner had been split up since approximately 2015.
Gordon acknowledged to Wells that she had sex with Bonner on the couch with the victim sitting next to them..