TEXARKANA, Texas–A New Boston, Texas, man has been arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of a girl whose deceased mother he used to date, according to court records.
Chester “Chet” Ray Stuart, 36, faces 25 to 99 years or life in prison if convicted of the continuous sexual abuse of a child and would be ineligible for parole under Texas law. Stuart allegedly began showing the girl pornographic videos when she was approximately 8 years old in 2015, according to a probable cause affidavit. The girl is now 16.
Among the evidence collected by investigators with the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office are text messages allegedly sent by Stuart to the girl which are sexually graphic and ask for sexual contact. In one of the text messages, Stuart promises he will take the girl “to the store too,” the affidavit said.
Stuart reportedly stayed in the lives of the girl and her siblings after their mother’s death in 2022.
A family member tasked with caring for the children told police that she observed interactions between Stuart and the girl which troubled her and led her to check the girl’s phone. Investigators allege Stuart has been sexually abusing the girl from 2015 until December last year when the suspected abuse was reported by an adult family member of the girl’s to the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office.
Stuart was arrested Feb. 9 and is currently being held in the Bowie County jail with bond set at $100,000. The case has been assigned to 202nd District Judge John Tidwell.
