Competency Hearing Scheduled for Man Charged with 2010 Aggravated Sexual Assault of Elderly Person

A competency hearing has been set for a San Angelo man charged with aggravated sexual assault of an elderly person and injury of an elderly person with intentional bodily injury.

The defendant, 62-year-old Tony Edwin Nowlain, was indicted on the charges in November 2010, following his Feb. 13 arrest at a residence in the 700 block of Spaulding. At approximately 4:39 p.m. on that date, San Angelo Police Officer Raymond Francis responded to the residence for a possible sexual assault.

According to a complaint filed by SAPD Detective Thomas Daniel, when officer Francis arrived on scene, he observed the victim, a 90-year-old female, to have visible bruises on her hands, wrists and face, as a result of Nowlain allegedly grabbing her head and face to cause injury. The sexual assault is alleged to have taken place at the same time.

Nowlain was held in Tom Green County Jail with no bond while lawyers prepared for trial. On April 19, 2010, judge Ben Woodward ordered that Nowlain undergo a psychological examination to determine his competency to stand trial and rather or not he was sane at the time of the alleged offense.

On June 4, 2010, following an examination conducted on by Dr. Jarvis Wright, Nowlain was determined to be incompetent and ordered to be committed to a maximum security unit at North Texas State Hospital in Vernon for no more than 120 days, with the objective of attaining competency to stand trial.

From 2010 to 2014, repeated mental health evaluations and extensions on mental health services resulted in the cancellation of criminal trial proceedings. On Feb. 18, 2014, Nowlain’s commitment at North Texas State Hospital was extended for another 12 months. The court found that Nowlain suffers a mental illness and is likely to cause serious harm to others.

Tuesday, July 29, Nowlain was transferred back to the county jail, where he currently remains. On Aug. 6, a competency hearing has been scheduled in the 391st Judicial District Court.

The charges Nowlain faces are injury to a disabled person, a third-degree felony, and aggravated sexual assault of an elderly person, a first-degree felony. On the basis of a July 19, 1993 conviction for aggravated assault with serious bodily injury, the District Attorney is pursuing enhancements on each of the charges, which would enhance the injury charge to a second-degree felony and enhance the aggravated charge to a minimum of 15 years with a maximum of 99 or life.

Nowlain has a lengthy criminal history in Tom Green County dating back to 1984. Out of 15 misdemeanors on his criminal case history, Nowlain has been convicted of 11, one of which was an assault charge.