Woman aids boyfriend, allows child’s sexual abuse

SMITH COUNTY — A Tyler couple was arrested after the man admitted to sexually abusing a girl, while the woman failed to report the abuse for over a year, according to a report from our news partner KETK.

Smith County deputies responded to a home in Tyler on Aug. 3, where a verbal dispute was happening between Tiara Leshai Kelly and her live-in boyfriend, Joshua Peairre Flowers. Kelly told deputies she had a recording of Flowers admitting to sexually abusing a young girl, and that this incident happened around a year ago, when they lived in Dallas, according to a Smith County arrest affidavit.

A deputy heard the recording of Flowers admitting to performing a sexual act on the victim. When confronted, Flowers denied any physical contact with the minor.

“However, after the deputy played an audio recording in which Flowers is heard admitting the act, Flowers then admitted to the sex act,” the affidavit reads. “Joshua then attempted to shift blame onto [the victim]…and when the recording was made, alleging that she had initiated inappropriate sexual advances toward him.”

Kelly then provided information that she believed Flowers may have recently had sexual contact with a minor. She explained to deputies that she had gone to check on the victim while she was sleeping and found her lying with her “pants pulled down.”

The document said that on Aug. 4, a forensic interview was done with multiple children, but one victim made an outcry that on numerous occasions, while they lived in Dallas, Flowers would enter her bedroom and touch her private parts.

“[The victim] also disclosed during the interview that before these incidents, Flowers would give her a green and white pill, which would cause her to feel dizzy and stated she could not move,” the affidavit said. “When she was asked if Joshua did anything else to her body, she indicated that she could not remember, and she did not know.”

The affidavit said that Kelly had several opportunities to report the abuse but failed to do so. “After recording Flowers admitting to the sexual assault on [the victim], Kelly and the children moved to Tyler due to an eviction while Flowers remained in Dallas for work,” the document said. “She later discovered infidelity, and only then did she decide to end the relationship.”

After the relationship ended, investigators said Flowers came to Tyler on Aug. 22, 2024, and threatened to kill Kelly. “She reported the incident to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, resulting in his arrest for terroristic threat and criminal mischief. A protective order was also issued,” the affidavit said. “Kelly did not report her knowledge of the sexual abuse, or submit the recorded confession at that time.”

In November of 2024, Flowers began contacting and visiting Kelly in violation of the protective order.

“These visits gradually turned into extended stays until Flowers effectively moved back in,” the affidavit said. “On March 19, 2025, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office responded to Kelly’s residence in reference to a disturbance. Flowers was arrested following the disturbance call, where deputies found him to have outstanding warrants. The sexual abuse and recorded confession were still not reported to law enforcement during this time. Kelly admitted to helping Flowers obtain legal counsel after being arrested on the outstanding warrants.”

Flowers was arrested on Aug. 20 for indecency with a child (sexual contact) and remains in the Smith County Jail. Kelly was later arrested on Thursday for abandoning/endangering a child with imminent danger and bodily injury and was released the same day.