Former Flower Mound Councilman Jim Pierson was booked into Denton County Jail on Friday on felony warrants for sex crimes against his granddaughter.
According to jail records, Pierson, 80, is charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, a first-degree felony, and indecency with a child/sexual contact, a second-degree felony. The Denton County Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 issued both warrants.
According to the arrest warrant affidavits, Pierson’s granddaughter told investigators that Pierson began abusing her when she was 8 years old. On many occasions over the course of about three years, the girl said Pierson touched her inappropriately, had her touch him inappropriately, told her to undress, showered with her and showed her pornography, among other things. Sometimes, she said, he would stop for unknown reasons or if he heard her grandmother coming, and in other incidents he wouldn’t stop until after she had told him to stop several times.
The girl told investigators that the incidents occurred every time she went to her grandparents’ house when her grandmother was busy or gone. Nearly every time, she said, Pierson told her not to tell anyone what happened or he would go to jail. One time when she was 11, she said Pierson touched her inappropriately and she told him to stop or she would tell someone, and that’s when the abuse ended.
Pierson posted $50,000 bail and was released from jail Friday.
Pierson resigned unexpectedly from council by email on May 12, hours before a council meeting. Soon after his resignation, it was learned that he was under criminal investigation, and the Flower Mound Police Department asked the Denton County Sheriff’s Office to take over the investigation because of Pierson’s service on council.
Pierson was elected in 2019 to Place 1 on the Flower Mound Town Council, and the council has begun interviewing the 13 applicants who want to fill the vacancy on council until the seat expires in May 2022.
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