TEXARKANA, Texas - A woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Bowie County to sexual assault charges involving a teen she met while his caseworker at a juvenile facility.
Jessica Marie Pratt, 26, appeared for arraignment Wednesday on three counts of sexual assault of a child with Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson at a hearing before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. Harrelson entered pleas of not guilty to all charges and Tidwell scheduled the case for a pretrial hearing in August.
Pratt was indicted by a Bowie County grand jury in March. Like other defendants free on bond, Pratt's case has been rescheduled for arraignment several times because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pratt was arrested July 13, 2019, and released on a $100,000 bond July 22, 2019.
Pratt came to the attention of the Hooks, Texas, Police Department when a member of the Pittsburg, Texas, Police Department made contact June 28, 2019, regarding a woman who was having sex with a teen, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Pittsburg police were contacted by a Camp/Titus County, Texas, juvenile probation officer who said a teen on her caseload claimed Pratt sexually abused him.
The boy allegedly reported that Pratt was his caseworker when he was incarcerated at Rockdale Academy in Rockdale, Texas.
Pratt allegedly picked the boy up from a convenience store in Pittsburg and drove him to a house in Hooks, Texas, where she lives with a parent.
Pratt allegedly assaulted the boy sexually at the Hooks residence on several different dates last year.
The boy allegedly told his probation officer that he quit responding to text messages from Pratt because he knew "it was wrong." Pratt allegedly confessed to a member of law enforcement that she had sex with the boy three times at the house on Wilder Street in Hooks.
If convicted, Pratt faces two to 20 years in prison on each of the three counts of child sexual assault pending against her. Pratt could also be required to register as a sex offender.