A North Texas woman was arrested late last month on multiple child sex abuse charges.
Natalie Sorrells, 44, faces two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency with child sexual contact. She was booked in Rockwall County jail on February 20 but later released on a combined $150,000 bond, according to jail records.
The allegations of illicit sexual contact with a minor come out of Heath, where Sorrells resides. She works as a real estate agent in Rockwall and volunteers with youth at Lakepointe Church.
Lakepointe Church issued a statement reacting to the news of Sorrells’ arrest.
“While it is our current understanding that no inappropriate activity occurred on church premises, at any church event, and that the minor involved was not under the direct leadership of the volunteer, out of an abundance of caution, we immediately informed Lakepointe parents, restricted the volunteer from any access to minors at the church and removed her from her volunteer position,” the organization said, according to Fox 4 KDFW.
The statement went on to say that all volunteers at Lakepointe Church are screened via background checks and receive training.
While no further information about the case has been released, a conviction on aggravated sexual assault of a child would be punishable by a minimum of five years in prison due to it being a first-degree felony. However, if the victim was under the age of 14, this minimum increases to 25 years.
The Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas estimates that 1 in 10 children will be sexually abused by the time they reach the age of 18. Roughly 3 in 5 never tell an adult about that abuse, never mind the authorities.
As previously covered by The Dallas Express, last year saw dozens of allegations made against teachers and other staff working with children across the state. Some have called attention to possible gaps in the Texas Department of Public Safety’s background check process and the Texas Education Agency’s alleged mishandling of accusations of teacher misconduct.
In Dallas, there have been 86 reports of sex crimes made this year as of March 4, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard. Most victims both this year and last year have been black and Hispanic women and girls, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The Dallas Police Department has struggled to get crime under control amid a serious staffing shortage. Even though a City analysis found that a municipality the size of Dallas needs a force of 4,000 officers, DPD currently only has around 3,000 officers working in the field.
DPD was also budgeted only $654 million this fiscal year, with the Dallas City Council deciding to spend much less taxpayer money on law enforcement than other high-crime jurisdictions, like New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.