TEXAS
Culture Map Dallas
BY CLAIRE ST. AMANT
James Truman Ackley, a 25-year-old youth leader at University Park United Methodist Church, has been charged with sexual abuse of a child and online solicitation of a minor.
According to a January 16 arrest warrant, Ackley was having a sexual relationship with female in his charge at the church who is under the age of 17. The two also exchanged texts and phone calls.
The girl’s father noticed she had received a number of texts “during the night time hours” from an unknown number. The girl told her father that the sender was Ackley.
The arrest warrant states that while the father and daughter discussed the matter, an image of a white male, presumed to be Ackley, holding an erect penis appeared on the young girl’s phone.
When interviewed by police, the girl said she had been in a “boyfriend/girlfriend” relationship with Ackley since a youth retreat in August 2012. In addition to exchanging explicit photos and text messages, the two have reportedly engaged in sexual activities.
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