Following a short hearing in the 43rd District Court in Weatherford Wednesday, Jan. 7, an alleged sex offender was ordered held without bail. The motion to hold the man without bail was filed by Parker County District Attorney Jeff Swain and was Parker County’s first under an amendment to the Texas state constitution approved by voters in November.
District Judge Craig Towson ordered Charles Wayne Linehan, 47, of Poolville, held without bail. Linehan was recently arrested for aggravated sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child, and continuous sexual abuse of a young child. According to the probable cause affidavits, Linehan is accused of repeatedly molesting a girl from the time she was 5 until she reached the age of 15 years.
“On Nov. 4, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 3, which requires judges to hold defendants in jail without bail on a set of particularly egregious offenses if they find that, if permitted to make bail, the arrestee would be a risk to the safety of the victim, community, or law enforcement or a risk to not show up to court,” Swain said. “This amendment went into effect several weeks after the election when the Texas Secretary of State certified the election results.”
