COMAL COUNTY, Texas — A California woman is now the first woman to be declared a sexually violent predator in Texas.
A Comal County jury declared 37-year-old Desiree Hamm a sexually violent predator after forensic psychologist Dr. Jason Dunham compared her patterns to those of a “cult leader” who controlled all aspects of her victims’ lives.
According to the Comal County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, the case against Hamm began with an investigation in 2009 when she began online relationships with two teens. Authorities said she preyed upon them by grooming them through “role playing games” which eventually became sexual.
The district attorney’s office said Hamm eventually brainwashed the girls into believing the game was reality and used webcams to establish her dominance over them, which she constantly monitored. After mailing the girls secret cellphones, computers and pills, she eventually coordinated their kidnapping by convincing another woman to transport them back to California in the trunk of her car.
Under Hamm’s control, the girls were sexually assaulted and branded with matching tattoos. The district attorney’s office said Hamm was eventually captured and pleaded guilty, being sentenced to 20 years in prison and 10 years of probation. She was later granted an early release from prison.
Jennifer Deyne, Deputy Director of Sex Offender Programs with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said Hamm’s case was “extremely alarming” and that she was likely to commit future acts of sexual violence. Since Hamm’s actions were described as not aligning with the usual pattern of a female sex offender and instead were “overtly predatory,” the likelihood that she would commit more sex crimes was high.
The district attorney’s office said Hamm also admitted to the jury that she continued to engage in her role-playing games while in prison with many different pen pals. She will now be given long-term sex offender treatment and supervision indefinitely and evaluated every two years to see if there has been a change in her risk of committing another offense.
Hamm is the first woman in Texas to be designated a sexually violent predator since the law was enacted in 1999.