A Texas lawmaker asked local authorities to open a criminal investigation into a wrestling coach accused of sexually exploiting dozens of female student athletes.
“Today, I’m respectfully urging Montgomery County law enforcement to open an independent criminal investigation into allegations of grooming and sexual exploitation of students by William ‘Billy’ Durning,” said State Rep. Steve Toth (R-Conroe) during a press conference on Tuesday that included impacted families.
Durning was teaching and coaching at The Woodlands High School in the Conroe Independent School District when allegations arose in April that he had sexually groomed multiple female athletes during his many years working in Texas public schools and private sports clubs.
“In April, a brave young woman came forward to report inappropriate behavior by her wrestling coach, Billy Durning,” said Toth. “At that time, she had no idea that going public would give a voice to at least dozens of other alleged victims spanning over a decade whose allegations had fallen on deaf ears.”
“This is a statewide, nationwide problem,” said Toth.
Texas law defines child grooming as knowingly persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing a child under the age of 18 to engage in sexual activity that would subject the actor to criminal liability. The offense is a third-degree felony punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison.
“The law was written to stop predators before the worst happens,” said Toth.
Toth noted that the crime does not require physical contact but said one of Durning’s targets alleged that after being groomed by the coach, he sexually assaulted her in his home when she was only 17 years old.
What troubles me most about this, and what troubles I believe most of you, is that it has been reported that Durning’s motto was well known among students and colleagues: “18 and graduated.”
One reported complaint says he told her he was counting down the days until she turned 18. If that is accurate, it describes a deliberate timeline of sexualized communication with minors over time, which lays the groundwork for the day he believed he could act. That kind of patient, calculated preparation is the essence of grooming.
Toth stated that once the latest allegations were made, Conroe ISD officials swiftly put Durning on leave and initiated an investigation.
But as often happens, Durning was allowed to resign rather than being terminated for cause by the district.
Toth called it a “pattern” that ISDs do “sham investigations” that find no wrongdoing, and “the trash gets passed from district to district to district.”
“This is one of many ways accused predators remain off the radar and are able to continue teaching and coaching in other districts and continue finding new victims on new predatory grounds,” said Toth. “This is exactly how Coach Durning ended up here in our community with access to our children.”
Durning has taught and coached in multiple school districts across the state since receiving a Texas teaching certificate for social studies in 2007. His certification is currently under review by the Texas Education Agency.
Various sources cite Durning working at The Woodlands College Park High School in Conroe ISD, then in Houston ISD for several years and Cypress-Fairbanks ISD for three years starting in 2016. He switched to Katy ISD for four years, then spent another two years coaching in Cy-Fair ISD before returning to Conroe ISD in 2025.
In addition to coaching in Texas public schools, Durning trained young wrestlers at private sports clubs throughout the state.
Durning received multiple Assistant Coach of the Year awards from the Texas High School Wrestling Coaches Association (THSWCA) and the University Interscholastic League (UIL), which oversees school sports competitions.
Toth stated that everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence, including Durning.
“An investigation is how we find the truth,” he said. “But the allegations are serious enough that the public deserves a thorough investigation, one that is not limited to one district alone, but can include the pieces of a larger puzzle.”
Parents Speak
Two parents of students allegedly groomed by Durning spoke at Tuesday’s press conference.
John Guydon, father of one of Durning’s accusers, described how coaches groom student athletes.
“Over the last 11 years or so, either my wife or I have been in every practice, every lesson, every game, every out-of-state tournament,” said Guydon.
“We were right there, and we still didn’t see it for what it was, because that’s how grooming works. It happens in plain sight … Sometimes years of it, right in front of the parents,” he said.
“A text at night that looks harmless. A group message to the team that says, ‘I love you guys.’ Your kid gets asked to run warm-ups and help with the younger ones; it feels like an honor. A joke about a kid’s body, and everyone laughs it off,” he said.
“In the moment, all of these come with an excuse,” said Guydon. “All of this is out of bounds. The problem is we almost never see all the pieces together to get the full picture.”
Guydon said he is angry that such grooming is enabled.
I’m angry that the benefit of the doubt goes to the adults. I’m angry that we act like a background check is enough to keep our kids safe, when all it does is expose the ones who’ve already been caught. I’m angry that we build a culture in youth sports where a creep lying in wait has the perfect cover. I’m angry that more than a dozen parents each saw a piece of this, and not one of them had enough to act on. I’m angry that parents who do ask questions get treated like troublemakers. And I’m angry that every time somebody tries to fix it, the answer is ‘it’s complicated.’
No, it’s simple.
“Every closed door, every private message, every chance for an adult to be alone with a child is a chance for a predator to do what predators do,” said Guydon. “So we take away every place they can hide, no exceptions. This should be non-negotiable.”
Guydon advised parents, “If your gut told you something was off, report it to law enforcement. Better to be loud and wrong than quiet and right.”
“The biggest mistake Billy Durning could have possibly made was to ever attempt to groom my daughter,” said Guydon. “The second biggest mistake was to bring his nonsense into Montgomery County. And I personally cannot wait to find out, and for all of you to see, how committed our agencies are in protecting and serving the community.”
“These families deserve a full investigation, and these kids deserve justice,” he added. “Our children depend on us to keep them safe. Every adult in youth sports has a choice. You can protect the kids, or you can protect the excuses, but you can’t do both.”
Parent Charlie Strange said he was proud of his daughter for exposing Durning’s attempts to sexually groom students.
“In April this year, with information from my daughter, we went to the school and reported their head wrestling coach William Durning for attempting to groom my daughter,” said Strange. “I was proud of my daughter when she created an Instagram post and put it out to the world that this man was attempting to groom.”
Because of this, many more girls have come forward with harrowing stories of their own. Over the last six months, I have listened to multiple accounts from victims as they described abuse by the same coach and teacher who attempted to groom right out.
I have been humbled by the bravery of so many of these young women who have come forward to tell their stories to help and to help stop this man from ever doing this to anyone again.
“In the same six months, I have been very frustrated with the lack of progress in this investigation … until Representative Steve Toth agreed to help.”
Strange credited Toth’s involvement and a recent attorney general opinion for creating “real progress towards justice for the victims in this case.”
“To the victims, you have all paid too much and too long for this broken man’s perversions,” he added. “It is time for him to pay for his own actions.”
Houston trial attorney Tony Buzbee announced in April that his firm is representing 10 young women Durning allegedly groomed, harassed, and sexually exploited while he was their coach. Two who were underage students at the time of the alleged grooming claim other coaches knew about his behavior but failed to report it to authorities.
Not an Isolated Problem
On September 17, Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a formal legal opinion on a 2025 educator misconduct reporting law known as Senate Bill 571, clarifying which law enforcement agencies are authorized under the Texas Family Code to receive referrals and conduct investigations involving suspected sexual abuse of students.
Among other provisions, SB 571 required school officials to report allegations of sexual misconduct, including child grooming, to outside law enforcement agencies. Districts’ internal police departments, which are overseen by school superintendents, are specifically excluded from the list of agencies that satisfy reporting requirements.
Toth also credited Paxton’s interpretation of SB 571 with opening up the criminal case against Durning.
He said Paxton’s opinion concluded educator sexual misconduct allegations “must be investigated by law enforcement, independent of the school districts.”
“No more ISDs investigating themselves,” said Toth. “This opinion makes it very clear that Montgomery County must investigate. They have the jurisdiction. They have the experience, the resources, and independence to investigate these allegations wherever the conduct occurred in Montgomery County, and to coordinate with law enforcement in other counties.”
“This is one reason that Texas recently created the Texas Education Agency Inspector General for Educator Misconduct,” said Toth. “The IG’s office is explicitly tasked with enforcing Senate Bill 571, state law designed to stop bureaucratic failures that allow predators quietly resigning from one school district to be hired by another.”
“This is not an isolated problem,” he added.
TEA’s Educator Misconduct Reporting Dashboard, mandated by SB 571, shows the agency is currently investigating more than 3,000 educator sexual misconduct complaints and opening an average of 250 new cases each month.
“Those are just the ones where kids and parents have been willing to come forward,” noted Toth.
Overall educator misconduct reports tripled in 2026 compared to 2025.
Over the past few years, hundreds of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children, and thousands have been reported to the TEA for sexual misconduct.
Texas Scorecard maintains a map of known educator sexual misconduct arrests.
