NEW BOSTON, Texas – A Bowie County jury on Thursday found a man who was
convicted of sexually abusing a 16-year-old child in 2011 guilty of three
felonies in connection with a 16-year-old he molested in 2022 and
recommended three life sentences.
Gary Lynn Crouch, 46, was convicted of three counts of indecency with a
child by contact for misconduct with a teen in the summer of 2022. Because
of his 2011 conviction for prohibited sexual conduct, Crouch was eligible
to receive an enhanced punishment.
Fifth District Judge Bill Miller ordered Crouch to serve the three life
terms consecutively.
Bowie County Assistant District Attorney Christina Flanigan told TXK Today
on Thursday: “After a collaborative effort from multiple law enforcement
agencies and children’s advocacy centers from Idaho to Texas, a Bowie
County jury convicted Gary Crouch of three counts of indecency with a child
by contact.”
“The evidence presented in the punishment phase of the trial showed that
the defendant had been registered as a sex offender since 2011,” Flanigan
said. “With three life sentences handed down by this jury, Gary Crouch will
never be able to hurt another child ever again.”
The most recent victim reportedly is a biological female who prefers to be
identified as a male. Crouch is married to the child’s mother but the child
had been living in Idaho, had not seen the mother in more than five years
and was visiting his mother for a month at her and Crouch’s residence in De
Kalb, Texas, during the summer of 2022, according to a probable cause
affidavit.
The abuse was reported in 2023 and the teen underwent a forensic interview
in Idaho that year.
Crouch took steps to get the child alone during the summer 2022 visit and
kissed and fondled the child when there was opportunity. Crouch gave the
alleged victim a promise ring to symbolize “purity to God and him” and told
them that “being gay is a sin.”
Crouch had told the child he knew he could go to jail for what he was doing.
Crouch will be held in the Bowie County jail until he is transported to a
Texas Department of Criminal Justice unit.
Flanigan and Assistant Bowie County District Attorney Katie Carter
represented the state. Crouch was represented by Jeff Harrelson of
Texarkana and Val Jones of Marshall, Texas.