Trial underway for Waco man charged in sex assault of teen at Hewitt residence

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Testimony is set to begin Tuesday in the trial of a Waco man charged with sexually assaulting a teenager at a Hewitt residence while the assaults were videotaped.

George Anthony Spratt, 58, is on trial in Waco’s 54th State District Court on one count of continuous trafficking of persons, and four counts of promotion of child pornography.

Prosecutors Tara Avants and Kristi DeCluitt, and defense attorney Lyle Gripp, selected a jury Monday afternoon to hear the case.

According to arrest documents filed in the case, the boy, who lived in Arkansas, visited Spratt’s co-defendant, Willie Ross Davis Jr., at his home in Hewitt in May 2020. The teen, who was 19 at the time, reported that Davis forced him to have sex with Spratt on the first day they arrived at Davis’ home.

“The sexual assault continued until (the boy) returned to his mother’s home on approximately June of 2020,” according to an arrest affidavit. “(The boy) stated he felt so much pain afterwards. (The boy) told Willie Davis that he did not want to do this with George Spratt but (the boy) stated that Willie Davis would force George Spratt to have sex with him against his wishes.”

Hewitt officers reported they found video evidence of the assaults while executing a search warrant at Davis’ home.

According to court documents filed in Davis’ criminal case, Davis installed surveillance cameras throughout his home and also used his cell phone, computer camera and hidden cameras that looked like clocks to video the sexual assaults. The boy and his younger brother, who called Davis “Paw Paw,” reported Davis told them not to report the abuse to anyone.

Davis, 62, pleaded guilty in May to two counts of trafficking of persons and four counts of promotion of child pornography in exchange for a 40-year prison term and four concurrent 20-year sentences.

Davis’ son reported that his father was sexually abusing a teenage boy in July 2020, according to arrest records. Hewitt officers contacted the teen and he reported that Davis had sexually assaulted him multiple times beginning in the summer of 2018 at Davis’ home in Hewitt, in Texarkana, Ark., and in Tyler.

The boy also reported that Davis sexually assaulted his younger brother, who was 16 at the time, and that he forced the brothers to perform sex acts on each other and on Davis while he videoed them.

Spratt, who has been jailed 579 days awaiting trial, faces a minimum of 25 years in prison and up to life if convicted of continuous trafficking of persons. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the four counts of promotion of child pornography if convicted of those offenses.

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