Texas sheriff threatened woman’s life over alleged ‘love child,’ prosecutors say
Prosecutors allege that embattled Johnson County Sheriff Adam King had an extramarital affair in the ‘90s that resulted in the birth of a son, according to court documents obtained by WFAA-TV.
The new documents, filed last Thursday in the county’s 413th District Court, also accuse the sheriff of threatening to kill or jail the child’s mother if she continued to tell people the child was his.
King’s trial on charges of abuse of office related to sexual harassment and retaliation against witnesses was initially scheduled to begin with jury selection this week, but was postponed to June in light of the new allegations.
The document filed Thursday is a legally required notice to King’s defense that states prosecutors intend to use other offenses, wrongs or acts beyond the charged crimes in building their case against the sheriff. If a defendant is convicted at trial and if the evidence is allowed by the judge, extraneous offenses can be introduced during the trial’s punishment phase to help the jury determine sentencing.
In the document, prosecutors lay out what they believe witnesses may testify to when called to the stand at trial. One witness, identified by the initials T.C. in the filing, might testify that she and King met at a Cleburne Applebee’s location in 1999, where King told T.C. that he was a beer salesman despite working in law enforcement at the time, according to the documents.
King and T.C. began a sexual relationship and met several times at hotels in Fort Worth for sex, prosecutors allege. At some point, T.C., who was married, became pregnant and told King she would tell her husband the baby was his before cutting off contact with him, according to the documents.
Around 2015, King and another officer arrested T.C. in Johnson County, according to the documents. That day, prosecutors allege that King told the woman he would “put her six feet under or put her in prison for the rest of her life” if she did not stop telling people the child was his.
King also told the woman she needed to move out of the county and that he never wished to see her again, according to the documents.
To this day, prosecutors said, T.C. still fears retaliation from King.
In a statement to WFAA last week, King’s defense attorney, Bill Mason, denied the accusations in the court filings, calling them “baseless and laughable.”
“Sadly, the State is desperate and has reached a new low,” Mason said. “These allegations are false, and the State knows they are false. The Sheriff denies these allegations.”
King’s attorneys also told WFAA that he would willingly submit to a paternity test as soon as possible to dispel the “filthy, disgusting lie” aimed at smearing his name.
Jury selection is set to begin June 22. The judge has allotted one week for the trial.
