TEXARKANA, Texas–The husband of a former high school softball coach is back in custody for violating his bond on charges of sexual grooming of a child and online solicitation of a minor.
Matthew Lynn Riddle, 36, was ordered back into custody Tuesday during a hearing before District Judge John Tidwell at the Bi-State Justice Building in downtown Texarkana. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp asked the court to put Riddle back in jail because he was associating with a convicted felon – a violation of the conditions of his $200,000 bond.
A friend of Riddle’s who is a felon on probation in Collin County, Texas, reportedly attempted to transfer his probation to Bowie County and listed Riddle’s address as his new place of residence. Riddle and the felon had allegedly become friends on TikTok and Riddle had allowed him to move into his home, in violation of his bond conditions.
Riddle is accused of inappropriately touching and sending repeated sexually oriented messages to multiple female teen athletes he was giving hitting lessons to before he was criminally charged in March last year. Riddle allegedly sent the girls messages constantly and kept a close eye on their social media accounts, according to documents filed last week by the state.
Riddle allegedly would become angry when the girls didn’t immediately respond to him – even when they were in class at school – and would tell them that he loved them, according to the state’s notice. Riddle allegedly focused on the girl’s buttocks in his messages to them and during his interactions with them in batting lessons.
Riddle’s current spouse is his fifth wife and she is expecting a child in the spring. She is no longer employed by the Texarkana area school district where she had been working as a softball coach until her husband’s arrest. Riddle has three other children with three other women and is more than $54,000 behind in child support, according to the state’s notice.
“Each of the defendant’s former wives were manipulated, used, cheated on, gaslit, and at various times, abandoned by the defendant,” the state’s notice states. “The defendant is a master manipulator and a compulsive liar.”
Riddle allegedly has a pattern of lying about his military service and exaggerating his achievements, the notice said.
A former coworker of Riddle’s reported that Riddle made a sexually oriented statement about a young girl he caught sight of outside of a Texarkana gymnastics studio, according to the notice.
When Riddle saw the girl, he allegedly said, “Look at the booty on that one.”
When the coworker reacted by stating, “That’s a 12-year-old girl,” Riddle allegedly responded, “She can still get it.”
Riddle is facing two counts of child grooming and a single count of online solicitation of a minor. Each charge is punishable by two to ten
years in prison.
Riddle is scheduled for a jury trial next month before Judge Tidwell at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston. Crisp is representing the state and Riddle is represented by the Bowie County Public Defender’s Office.