Former Texarkana Cop Pleads Not Guilty To Sex Abuse Of Teen Girl

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.

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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.