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Richmond man sentenced to 45 years for continuous child sexual abuse Staff Reports A Richmond man was sentenced to 45 years in prison after agreeing to plead guilty to continuous sexual abuse of a young child, according to a news release from the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office. Chad Alan Henry, 34, will serve the full sentence without the possibility of parole, according to prosecutors. The child victim disclosed to her mother that she had been sexually abused by Henry multiple times, according to the release. The child’s mother immediately reported the offense to law enforcement and the Richmond Police Department launched an investigation. While the case was pending, additional children disclosed that they were also sexually abused by Henry in Harris County. Henry was charged with two offenses of Super Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child in Harris County. That offense applies to victims younger than 6 years of age at the time of the abuse. Prosecutors in Fort Bend County and Harris County worked together utilizing a statute that allows offenses from other counties to be taken into consideration in sentencing to resolve the cases for the children and families victimized by this defendant, according to the release. Henry admitted his guilt to the Harris County charges in conjunction with his plea in the Fort Bend County case. “The defendant hurt multiple children over the span of several years,” Assistant District Attorney Tristyl McInnis, lead prosecutor in the case, said in the release. “It took several agencies working together to find former and current victims in this case. The anguish inflicted by this defendant upon these children and their families is truly heartbreaking and I hope that this sentence can offer them closure.” “This defendant gained the trust of the children he abused,” said Assistant District Attorney Melissa Munoz. who also prosecuted the case. “We are so proud of all the children that came forward and for the courage they showed to talk about what this defendant did to them. These kids put a stop to future abuse and future victims.” The plea was entered before Judge Tameika Carter in the 400th Judicial District Court. Continuous sexual abuse of a young child is a first-degree felony punishable by 25 to 99 years or life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Chad Alan Henry, 34, of Richmond, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison without parole for continuous sexual abuse of a young child. Courtesy Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office
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Authorities: Patel created false accounts to post racist attacks about himself By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Taral Patel, the Democratic candidate in the upcoming election for Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Commissioner and a former chief of staff to County Judge KP George, is accused by law enforcement authorities of creating a fake Fakebook account, using the photograph of another Fort Bend County resident, in order to post false, racist messages about himself and others related to the campaign.
Taral Patel, the Democratic candidate for Fort Bend County Commissioner Precinct 3, is accused of creating phony social media accounts in order to post racist messages about himself, among other activities. Taral Patel campaign photo
Patel, 30, is also accused of creating an email account under another false identity to send fake messages about Andy Meyers, the Republican incumbent Precinct 3 Commissioner, and Abrahim Javed, one of four other Democratic candidates in the March primary. Patel scored a slim majority in the race and is slated to run against Meyers in November. Patel was arrested by Texas Rangers at his Sugar Land residence Wednesday, according to the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office. The formal charges
are online impersonation, a third-degree felony, and misrepresentation of identity, a Class A misdemeanor. After being booked in the Fort Bend County Jail, he is free after posting two bail bonds totaling $22,500. An initial court date is set for July 22 in the 240th District Court. Patel served as George’s chief of staff from 20192021. Before formally announcing his campaign in May 2023, he served for about two years in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and in the Biden administration’s
Office of the White House Liaison. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. According to a 16-page affidavit released Thursday evening, Evett Kelly, an investigator with the Public Integrity Division of the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office, was contacted in October 2023 by Meyers, who requested an investigation of the source of social media
SEE ATTACKS PAGE 2
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Ken Fountain, editor of the Fort Bend Star and author of this story, in October 2023 wrote a column that was rooted in Patel’s statements about purported racist comments about himself. Fountain addresses that column and the developments since in a column on Page 5
Smith lays out vision for FBISD at chamber event
Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Marc Smith lays out his vision for the district at a public event last week. Photos by Ken Fountain
By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Six months into the job, Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Mark Smith laid out his vision for the district at a presentation to civic and business leaders at the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce last week. Smith, who was named as the “sole finalist” for the superintendent role in December following the contentious ouster in December of former superintendent Christie Whitbeck, took the helm of the state’s sixthlargest public school district in January. Previously the superintendent of Duncanville ISD in the Dallas area, Smith, a Houston-area native, had previously served in executive roles in Fort
Bend ISD from 2007-2012. The Chamber of Commerce event was Smith’s first major public address since taking charge. He was joined by Kristin Tassin, who was elected to the FBISD board in May (after previously serving on the board, including as president) and being chosen by her colleagues as president in May. Tassin, echoing the themes she discussed after being chosen president, said that under her watch, the district and its elected board would adhere to a renewed sense of accountability and cohesion after experiencing a few years of dysfunction that often spilled out into public view. Among Tassin’s priorities is building an effective “team of eight,” consisting
of the superintendent and the seven board members, increasing accountability through a board-driven audit system, and increasing board oversight of the district’s special education programs, which have recently been the subject of scrutiny by the Texas Education Agency. Tassin said she also wanted to improve upon the board’s listening to the concerns of teachers as part of a program to improve retention during a time when teachers across the state are switching districts or leaving the profession altogether. Tassin said the district will begin a renewed commitment to increasing literacy achievements at its most vulnerable campuses, while improving community
Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Marc Smith addresses a standingroom-only audience at the Fort Bend County Chamber of Commerce.
engagement and partnerships in the feeder pattern areas for Willowbridge and Marshall high schools, the two campuses where those achievement levels have been most concerning.
In his own remarks, Smith stressed the theme of effective leadership that he hopes to bring to the
SEE VISION PAGE 2