TEXARKANA, Texas–A former officer of the Texarkana Texas Police Department entered a not guilty plea to five felony sexual abuse charges at a hearing in Bowie County district court on Monday.
Zackary Taylor Gilley, 32, is accused of sexual misconduct with a 15-year-old girl who had been riding along with him on patrol as part of a program meant to encourage youth to choose a career in law enforcement, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Gilley has entered pleas of not guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a child, two counts of indecency with a child by contact, and a single count of indency with a child by exposure, court records show. Represented by Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson, Gilley appeared for arraignment before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell in a courtroom at the Bi-State Justice Building in downtown Texarkana.
Tidwell scheduled Gilley to return to court for a pretrial hearing in November.
Gilley’s misconduct allegedly occurred while the teen was traveling with Gilley in his patrol unit last year on multiple occasions between January and November, according to a probable cause affidavit. Gilley allegedly told the girl he “had a crush on her” and made her “pinky promise” not to tell anyone, the affidavit said, noting the girl reported the conversation made her feel uncomfortable.
While riding along in the cruiser, Gilley’s misconduct allegedly escalated from talking about a crush to hand holding and kissing before including sexual contact, the affidavit said.
Members of the Texarkana Texas Police Department were first made aware of the allegations June 2 by a so-called outcry witness. Gilley was placed on administrative leave and then arrested the same day, records show.
At the time of his arrest, Gilley was charged with a total of four felonies. An additional count of indecency with a child by sexual contact was added to the counts against him by a Bowie County grand jury when they indicted Gilley earlier this month.
Before his case was presented to the grand jury, Gilley had posted bond on bails totaling $600,000, or $150,000 on each count. Following the indictment on the additional indecency charge, Gilley was again arrested and later posted an additional $150,000 bond.
