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A 34-year-old Austin woman is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in a church bathroom.
According to the Austin Police Department, Randricka Houston sexually assaulted the teenager more than once at Saint Peter's United Methodist Church on Springdale Road. An arrest warrant shows that the victim had known Houston since he was seven-years-old.
The crimes happened twice between March and May of this year.
According to police, another parishioner walked in and saw Houston with the victim.
The church reported the abuse to CPS and the Austin Police Department was brought in.
According to the arrest warrant, Houston admitted to police she had sexually assaulted the boy. She was arrested this morning and was placed in the Travis County Jail.
Houston had been a parishioner for at least five years but did not work for the church.
The Rio Texas Annual Conference, which is the South Central and West Texas headquarters for the Methodist Church, released the following statement:
A woman was arrested today on charges of the sexual assault of a child stemming from an incident at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in East Austin. The incident occurred on May 8th of this year. The accused was not employed by St. Peter’s.
This is a tragic situation that reminds us that the church in not immune to the evils of the world. As United Methodists, the care and safety of our children is a central part of our duty as Christians. Our denomination and our churches place great emphasis on creating safe places for children to learn, grow, and experience the love of God. Because of this, our local churches, including St. Peter’s, have policies and protocols in place. St. Peter’s Child Abuse Prevention Policy was created in concert with the policies of the annual conference and establishes rules for appropriate supervision of children by multiple adults, proper training in the safety of children, a covenant of conduct and background checks for all staff who have contact with children. The policy also outlines procedures for reporting alleged abuse. Because of this policy, this incident was properly recorded and immediately reported to police.
St. Peter’s has been serving East Austin for 150 years. This is a church that is a bedrock of the
community and has a passion for reaching out to those in need. East Austin has its share of
problems and the people of St. Peter's reach out to the parts of the community that are hurting
to teach of the love God has for them and help them restore a sense of hope and dignity. They
have ministries to help the homeless community get back on their feet. The are in ministry with
the Lakeside community in East Austin, inviting the kids there to Vacation Bible School and
receiving members from the people they meet
No matter how diligent we are, we know there is no way to completely remove our children from
danger. We are deeply grieved by events such as this and they cause us to pause and review
what else we might do to protect our children. We pray for the healing of the victim and family
and pray for the continued protection of our children.