SMITH COUNTY, Texas — The former director of student ministries at First United Methodist Church in Lindale is scheduled to stand trial in Runnels County on four counts of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 17 in 2015, according to the District Clerk's Office in Runnels County.
The office said Monday that Clinton Brackett, 34, is scheduled for a status hearing on March 7 and will have until May 9 to accept a plea offer from the state.
In no agreement is reached, Brackett's jury trial is scheduled to begin May 28, according to the clerk's office.
Brackett was arrested on a sexual assault charge Oct. 19, 2017, in Smith County by the Texas Rangers.
The arrest was the result of information obtained from a Texas Highway Patrol trooper’s traffic stop in Runnels County, according to a statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The trooper requested assistance from the Texas Rangers, who investigated the incident and obtained the warrant.
At the time of the arrest, the DPS said the case was turned over to the Runnels County district attorney.
Brackett's employment at First United Methodist Church was terminated and the Lindale church confirmed the incidents occurred in Runnels County. It said Brackett was not ordained in the United Methodist Church or considered a minister, pastor or clergy in the church or the denomination.
The church also confirmed at the time of Brackett's arrest that the incidents did not happen at FUMC Lindale or in the Lindale community.
At the time of Brackett's arrest, his social media page indicated he was previously employed at First Baptist Church in Ballinger. In a social media post on Dec. 6, 2015, Brackett wrote that he accepted the position of student minister at First United Methodist Church in Lindale and would be leaving the church in Ballinger after 4 1/2 years as a minister and member of the First Baptist Church family.
Brackett was held on a $100,000 bond, which he posted the day of his arrest, according to Smith County judicial records.
