NEW BOSTON, Texas–Five men and seven women were selected Tuesday to decide the fate of a man who gave batting lessons to teen female athletes he met through his wife, a former area high school softball coach.
Matthew Lynn Riddle, 36, 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 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 by the state.
Riddle’s messages to the girls allegedly at times included inappropriate videos and images of a sexually oriented nature meant to get them comfortable discussing their bodies, particularly their buttocks, and sexual activity generally, according to a notice from 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.”
Last month Riddle’s $200,000 bond was revoked by 202nd District Judge John Tidwell on a motion from First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp. Judge Tidwell found that Riddle had violated the conditions of his bond by associating with a known felon.
Opening statements and testimony are expected to begin Wednesday morning 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.
