Dead Burnet Pastor’s Wife Indicted on Child Sex Assault Charges

DailyTrib.com
October 29, 2015

http://www.dailytrib.com/2015/10/28/dead-burnet-pastors-wife-indicted-on-child-sex-assault-charges/

Misty Rae Hopkins

The wife of a former church pastor faces a string of felony child sex abuse charges after a woman told police she was molested by the suspect and her now-deceased husband as a young girl for several years, according to police.

Misty Rae Hopkins, 48, of Austin was booked into the Burnet County Jail on Oct. 26 on 15 indictments.

She was indicted by a Burnet County grand jury Oct. 6 for six counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child; four counts of indecency with a child (contact); four counts of indecency with a child (exposure); and one count of sexual performance of a child, according to court records.

The charges are the result of an investigation launched in December 2014 by the Burnet Police Department.

Police say the accuser “came forward to another agency,” which then contacted the Burnet department.

“We did a thorough investigation and made sure we had enough evidence to know it’s a good case,” Burnet Police Chief Paul Nelson said. “It’s truly horrific what this person went through for over half her life. She’s not going to give up. She’s going to keep it up. She did the right thing coming forward.”

The accuser told police the incidents happened from 1999-2004.

According to Burnet County tax records, the church just off RR 963 where Hopkins’ husband pastored was known as Temple Baptist Church in the early 1990s.

Authorities say they charged Hopkins with crimes against one victim but believe there could be more.

“We know that she was very much involved in (the crimes). That’s why we filed all the charges against her,” Nelson said. “If you do something like that to one person, you might do it to others. Maybe another victim will be watching and remember something and come forward.”

Investigators believe Hopkin’s late husband might have been involved.

“What the victim told us and what was going on, we’re sure that (the deceased pastor) was there joining in on what was going on,” Nelson said. “He’s deceased, so, of course, we can’t charge him.”

As of Oct. 28, Hopkins remained in the Burnet County Jail. No bond amounts were available.

Contact: editor@thepicayune.com