Attorney General Paxton’s Criminal Prosecution Division secured a seven-year prison sentence for a Texarkana man who committed child abuse in Bowie County, Texas. 

David Ernest Fant, 59, pleaded guilty to Indecency With a Child and was sentenced to seven years in state prison by visiting judge, the Honorable Lauren Parish, in the 202nd District Court in New Boston, Texas. 

According to court documents, the defendant was charged with sexually abusing his then five-year-old step grandchild during her visits with her biological father and grandmother. Fant’s abuse spanned from 2018 through March 2020, and evidence showed that he also directed his then-teenaged son, Hayden Fant, to abuse the minor child as well.  

Hayden Fant, now 22, pled guilty to Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in September, and agreed to testify against his father at trial as part of his sentence. Both Hayden and David Fant were indicted by a Bowie County grand jury on October 14, 2021. This disposition prevents the victim from having to testify against both family members. 

The case was investigated by the Texarkana Texas Police Department and the Texas Attorney General’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Brenda Cantu and Dorian Cotlar, who acted as pro tem for Bowie County due to a conflict.