Deputy, Wife Allegedly Fail to Report Child Sexual Assaults

TYLER — A Smith County deputy and his wife were booked into jail in late November for allegedly failing to report sexual assaults involving three different children. That’s according to KETK. On November 21, Texas Ranger Brent Davis was asked to investigate allegations of several sexual offenses that had been brought to the Smith County Sheriff’s Department’s attention by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. CPS reported they were made aware by an anonymous tipster, according to an arrest affidavit.

Authorities say Davis received a forensic Children’s Advocacy Center recording interview from November 20 of Victim #1 claiming the suspect, the child’s 15-year-old brother, had sexually assaulted them multiple times. On November 26, according to officials, Victim #2 told investigators they had also been assaulted by the same boy, the child’s step-brother, at the same Smith County address.

During the course of the investigation, the deputy and his wife stated in a document that the 15-year-old boy had admitted to sexually assaulting both children, along with a third sexual assault of another child on a school bus and grounds. On November 27, according to officials, the accused child admitted to Davis the sexual assaults at the deputy and his wife’s house and at school. All of the sexual assaults occurred in October and were not reported by the deputy or his wife to law enforcement or CPS, according to officials.

An arrest warrant was obtained and the couple was booked into the Smith County Jail on November 28. Both are charged with failure to report child abuse or neglect. The couple was released on $7,500 bail each. The names in this story were not released to protect the identity of the children involved.