A 23-year veteran of the Houston Police Department was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child, Houston police chief Troy Finner announced on Wednesday.
Sgt. Tung Tran was arrested on Tuesday after a criminal investigation was conducted by the Hedwig Village Police Department, Finner said. Tran refused to provide any statement to the investigators.
Hedwig Village police chief David Gott said that Tran was a family friend of the victim and there is no indication that he used his status as a police office to commit the alleged crimes.
Tran went before a probable cause court judge Wednesday, where he learned of his charges and why prosecutors were against a low bond.
“I do have concerns for this complaining witness based on the grooming behavior that was described by both the complaining witness as well as her parents based on the text messages that were recovered from her phone,” prosecutors said. “And based on the defendants status in the community as a police officer i don’t believe low bonds are reasonable.”
Tran’s bond was set at a collective $260,000 for the four charges. An emergency protection order was also granted prohibiting Tran from having contact with the victim or her family.
Hedwig Village Police chief David Gott said this past September his officers were notified about a possible sexual assault involving a 13-year-old girl Tran knows. The 50-year-old former sergeant is accused of sexually assaulting the teen girl in December of 2020 and physically molesting her in March of 2021., according to court documents.
HPD Chief Finner shared this statement -
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