West Texas DPS Trooper, CPS Worker Indicted
LUBBOCK, TX.(AP) – A Department of Public Safety trooper and a former Child Protective Services worker have been indicted on separate sex offense charges.
Former CPS worker William Stewart, 36, and DPS Trooper Ruben Trevino, 42, were both indicted Tuesday. Stewart, who was terminated as a CPS investigator July 25, is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a 30-year-old woman June 29, prosecutors said.
He was indicted on a charge of sexual assault. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. A call to Stewart’s attorney, Luke Jordan, was not immediately returned Wednesday. “Obviously, the accusations haven’t been proved in court but this is a situation that greatly concerns us,” CPS spokesman Greg Cunningham said. “We took the necessary action we thought we had to take.” The agency conducted a background check on Stewart before he was hired Feb. 12, Cunningham said.
Trevino, who works in the driver’s license office in Lubbock, faces an aggravated sexual assault charge. If convicted, he could face life in prison. He is “absolutely” not guilty of attacking the woman he lived with for about two years, said Trevino’s attorney, Dan Hurley. The woman’s allegation followed a financial disagreement and one involving which of the two would adopt a foster child who was in the couple’s care, he said.
Trevino was released from the Lubbock County Jail late Tuesday after posting bond on $75,000, jail officials said. He could be suspended with pay pending the outcome of an internal DPS investigation, department spokeswoman Tela Mange said.
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