Former deputy pleads guilty to child sex crimes, child pornography
Posted/updated on: June 25, 2026 at 3:26 pm
HOUSTON COUNTY – In federal court, a former Houston County deputy has elected to enter a guilty plea to charges of child pornography and sexual abuse of a child. Former Houston County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Skyler Laza has agreed to enter into a written plea agreement to the federal charge of sexual exploitation of a child, also known as production of child pornography, according to court documents filed on Tuesday. According to related documents, Skyler Laza forced the child to engage in sexual activity, recorded it, and sent the footage.
A state charge of aggravated sexual assault of a minor led to Skyler Laza’s initial arrest in November 2025. Later on, he faced federal charges. He had been employed by the Houston County Sheriff’s Office since September 2024, and according to Houston County Sheriff Zak Benge, he was fired right away when he was arrested. According to records, his brother, former Gladewater police officer Kenan Robert Laza, was first charged in federal court with sexual exploitation of a child, also known as production of child pornography, but his charge was dropped in January.
The court stated that the same federal charge is still pending against Kaleb Laza, the younger brother of both officers. Additionally, Kaleb Laza was first detained in November on a state charge of aggravated sexual assault of a minor in Anderson County. According to jail records, he was transferred to the Smith County Jail for the federal charge in December and is still incarcerated there. A cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children revealed a Dropbox with roughly 190 videos, some of which fit Texas’ definition of child porn, according to an arrest affidavit. Skyler Laza’s address was linked to seven of the videos.
A boy who appeared to be around ten years old is sexually assaulted in two of those seven videos. The document stated that another video depicts the same boy and two men engaging in sexual acts together. The child told authorities that he had been sexually abused by Laza family members since he was nine years old. According to the affidavit, Kenan Laza acknowledged having sex with his brother but denied having sex with the child.
A detective discovered a message thread between Skyler and Kaleb Laza in which they talked about trading the victim’s child porn files and sexually abusing the child. Kaleb Laza shared multiple files in that chat thread. Carl Laza, the brothers’ father, was also detained in November 2025 on a state charge of indecency with a minor. According to the arrest affidavit, he sexually assaulted the child victim at some point between January 2022 and December 2023. He is in the Anderson County Jail on a $3 million bond, according to the records.
