Woman admits neglecting daughters

A former Indian Hills resident was sentenced to a 90-day suspended sentence in Douglas County Jail on an allegation that she failed to protect her 15-year-old daughter from sexual assault.

Tyra Dawn Hicks, 35, pleaded guilty Feb. 13 to misdemeanor contributory neglect of a child.

Originally Hicks was charged with two felony accounts of child abuse or neglect stemming from an incident July 26.

She was accused of leaving her two daughters - one an 8-year-old - unsupervised with intoxicated adult men.

One of the men was known by the defendant to have a warrant for his arrest for statutory sexual seduction and had sexual contact with the 15-year-old, according to court documents.

David B. Reddington, 26, was sentenced to five years in Nevada State Prison in October for a third conviction of statutory sexual seduction in connection with the incident.

According to investigators' reports, Hicks knew of Reddington's prior convictions and decided to use the 15-year-old as "bait."

He reportedly told officers Hicks was feigning sleep in bed with her 8-year-old in the room while he was having sex on the floor with the 15-year-old.

The 8-year-old said she was fixing dinner and walked in on her sister at least three times while the older girl was having sex with another man at the apartment.

The second man said he stopped when he learned the girl was 15. He was not charged.

According to reports, the 15-year-old was intoxicated and didn't remember much of what happened.

"What kind of house are you running?" East Fork Justice Jim EnEarl asked Hicks.

Hicks' lawyer Tod Young said she had not had custody of her children for very long and had suffered in her own upbringing.

"She allowed the children to parent," Young said. "She was more interested in being their friend than their mother."

"You're through drinking and using any kind of drugs unless it's prescription," EnEarl said.