4 victims, 7 counts: Grand jury indicts former teacher accused of sexual abuse of child.
Updated: Jun 20, 2023
An Erath County grand jury on Wednesday indicted 78-year-old John David Trice on seven counts of sexual abuse of a child involving four victims.
Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash said he could not comment on the pending case, but said Trice was indicted on one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, four counts of indecency with a child, one count of sexual assault of a child and one count of sexual performance of a child.
Trice taught sixth grade science at Stephenville ISD for decades before retiring in 1994. He was arrested by the Texas Rangers on Aug. 2, 2022 after a victim made an initial complaint to authorities.
Trice was released from the Erath County Jail after posting a $150,000 bond.
Since then, other victims have come forward.
THE FIRST COMPLAINT
According to the first official complaint obtained by Beneath the Surface News, the then 23-year-old victim told Texas Ranger B.J. Hill that the abuse took place for about three months in the summer of 2010.
The victim described in graphic detail numerous sexual encounters Trice allegedly forced him to endure.
The victim said the abuse started in May 2010 when he began working for Trice at his ranch in Lingleville.
He told authorities that Trice showed him pornographic videos, gave him beer, directed him to take his pants off and touched him inappropriately numerous times over a three-month period.
He said the abuse allegedly started about a month after he began working for Trice.
“The child victim stated that at the end of the workday, he and Trice would have a beer in the barn on Trice’s property. One day during this time, Trice asked the child victim to take off his pants so he could ‘see what you got down there,’” the complaint states.
The victim said he complied out of fear.
The sexual abuse reportedly escalated during the following weeks with Trice allegedly forcing the child to swim naked and touch him.
Trice has hired Stephenville attorney David Stokes to represent him in the case.
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