Texas teacher Jimmy Lee Hanks was sentenced to life in prison after a Rains County jury found him guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, a first-degree felony.
Hanks, 53, was a high school teacher and coach in the Wills Point Independent School District at the time of his arrest in February 2025.
The abuse occurred from 2016 through 2023 and involved multiple children as young as five years old.
Superintendent Richard Cooper stated at the time of Hanks’ arrest that the abuse did not occur on Wills Point ISD property.
According to a report by KLTV, Hanks chose to have the jury assess his sentence.
Hanks does not appear to hold a Texas teaching certificate. Online records show he worked for Wills Point ISD during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.
Wills Point ISD is a C-rated district located in northeast Texas and has five schools with about 2,900 students and 340 employees, including 170 teachers.
Two other Wills Point ISD employees have been arrested in the past few years for child sex crimes.
In 2023, technology technician Kenneth Faling was arrested for indecency with a child who was not a student.
In 2024, teacher Amanda Blakely Green was charged with online solicitation of a minor and possession of child pornography.
Over the past few years, a growing number of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children, and thousands have been reported to the Texas Education Agency for sexual misconduct.
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