Tarkington man’s trial for child sex abuse ends with mistrial

By Vanesa Brashier, editor@bluebonnetnews.com

A Liberty County jury on April 15 could not settle on the guilt or innocence of a 56-year-old Tarkington man, Samuel Glenn Templeton, ending his week-long trial with a hung jury and leaving open the possibility that he will be retried later this year on multiple counts of Indecency With a Child.

The accusations against Templeton were made by two people to whom he was related for a number of years. His accusers testified during trial that the abuse began 20 years ago and continued for a number of years.

The trial was complicated by a lack of physical evidence to support their claims as they made a delayed outcry years after the alleged abuse ended.

Because of a conflict with the case, Liberty County District Attorney Logan Pickett stepped aside and Templeton’s prosecution was handled by Liberty County Attorney Matthew Poston. The trial was held in the 253rd State District Courtroom of the Honorable Judge Chap Cain.

There is no word yet on when or if Templeton will be retried.

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Before creating Bluebonnet News in 2018, Vanesa Brashier was a community editor for the Houston Chronicle/Houston Community Newspapers. During part of her 12 years at the newspapers, she was assigned as the digital editor and managing editor for the Humble Observer, Kingwood Observer, East Montgomery County Observer and the Lake Houston Observer, and the editor of the Dayton News, Cleveland Advocate and Eastex Advocate. Over the years, she has earned more than two dozen writing awards, including Journalist of the Year.

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