Zackary Gilley to serve at least 35 years before eligible for parole
A trial before 202nd District Court Judge John Tidwell last week ended with a jury finding former Hubbard ISD school board member and Texarkana police officer Zackary Taylor Gilley guilty of grooming and sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl while she was a part of the Texarkana Police Department’s Explorer Program. The jury only took about an hour and a half to find Gilley guilty on all seven charges he was facing.
Those charges included two counts of sexual assault of a child, three counts of indecency with a child by contact, one count of indecency with a child by exposure and one count of child grooming.
The jury sentenced Gilley on Friday giving him the maximum fine of $70,000 and giving him a sentence that will make him eligible for parole only after 35 years of incarceration. The sentencing included 20 years on each of the two sexual assault counts plus another 20 years on one of the counts of indecency by contact. The jury also levied sentences of 19 years the two other charges of indecency by contact, along with 10 years for indecency by exposure and 10 years for child grooming.
202nd District Judge Tidwell had Gilley remanded into custody immediately after the jury reached their penalties.
Gilley was originally arrested and placed on administrative leave, and then arrested, after the teenage girl came forward and told police of the assaults that she alleged were ongoing from January of 2024 through November of that same year.
The assaults occurred as the teen girl rode exclusively with Gilley on nighttime shifts as part of the program that was directed at teens that showed an interest in becoming a law enforcement officer.
The teen told investigators that Gilley made inappropriate sexual advances while the two were parked alongside I-30.
The seven charges levied at Gilley came with possible sentences of two to 20 years in prison for the two sexual assault charges and the three counts of indecency. The charges of exposure and grooming came with maximum penalties of two to 10 years.
Gilley was represented by Texarkana attorney Jeff Harrelson. District attorney-elect Kelley Crisp represented the state in prosecuting the case.
Krisp said after the sentencing was complete, “Zackary Gilley served our citizens as a professional law enforcement officer—a position of trust in our community.
A Bowie County jury last week heard that Gilley took advantage of this trust by engaging in grooming and sexually abusive behavior with a young female interested in becoming a member of law enforcement.
Gilley’s victim testified to heartbreaking details of the abuse she suffered and the trauma she now deals with as a result.
Thanks to the extraordinary assistance of the Texarkana Children’s Advocacy Center, the Texarkana, Texas Police Department, and the reasoned judgment of Judge John Tidewell in cumulating the sentences, Gilley was sentenced to 70 years of incarceration in the Texas Department of Corrections. This sentence demonstrates the absolute intolerance our citizens have for those who would harm our children.”
Zackary Taylor Gilley
