The grand jury which heard evidence in the indecency with a child case against local conservative talk show host Jon Matthews returned an indictment against him. Matthews was arrested and released on a personal recognizance bond and is now awaiting trial.
The indictment, which was unsealed Wednesday after Matthews was arrested, alleges Matthews knowingly and intentionally exposed his genitals to a girl under the age of 17 on Oct. 9.
“The indictment alleges there was exposure but not contact with the child,” Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey said.
The conservative talk show host, who also writes a column for a Fort Bend weekly newspaper, was taken into custody by Sugar Land police about 3 p.m. and driven to police headquarters. He was transferred to the county jail in Richmond, where he was released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond.
Matthews, 59, made no statements to reporters as he left the jail Wednesday evening. His attorney, Stephen Doggett, also declined to comment.
Matthews has resigned from KSEV and hasn’t submitted a column for publication in the Fort Bend Southwest Star since the investigation began. He’s still got an issue hovering over his head from that.
Matthews, who served in the U.S. Marines, usually wrote about Fort Bend County issues, often railing against local school district officials whom he dubbed “educrats.”
Matthews’ column also led to a libel suit filed against him last year by former Sugar Land Mayor Dean Hrbacek.
The suit claims Hrbacek’s reputation was damaged by Matthews, who called Hrbacek “Mayor Osama” and “Dean Osama Hrbacek,” in reference to the terrorist leader.
I’d guess that his current troubles outweigh that. As noted in the article, an indictment does not mean he’s guilty. We’ll see what a jury of his peers has to say.