A former Bowie Independent School District teacher’s aide is facing felony charges following recent allegations that he sexually abused an underage female student 10 years ago.
Matthew Lane Conley, 43, was arrested in Virginia on February 23 and extradited to Texas, where he was charged with six counts of sexual assault of a child.
The offense is a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
Conley was booked into the Montague County Jail on March 12. Bond was set at $450,000—$75,000 for each charge.
The alleged assaults occurred during the 2015-16 school year, while Conley was in his first year as a paraprofessional at Bowie High School.
His target was a freshman student he knew from church. He’s accused of initiating a friendship with the girl, then making it sexual and assaulting her multiple times.
According to Conley’s accuser, Bowie ISD officials shamed her for the sexual abuse and swept it under the rug, allowing the teacher to quietly resign without involving law enforcement.
After 10 years of maintaining her silence, she made an outcry. Authorities located Conley in Virginia and had him returned to Montague County to face criminal charges.
In Texas, there is no statute of limitations for sexual assault of a child.
Conley’s prosecution allows his accuser to seek justice and may also encourage others sexually abused in the past to come forward.
Conley received a Texas teaching certificate as an educational aide in 2015 that expired in 2021.
Over the past few years, a growing number of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes against students and other children, and thousands have been reported to the Texas Education Agency for sexual misconduct.
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