Newly obtained court records reveal disturbing details about a Harris County Sheriff’s deputy accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl, including threats he allegedly made to keep her silent for years.
Alexander Cowley, 40, was arrested last week on a continuous sexual abuse of a child charge. He has since bonded out of jail on a $200,000 bond. KPRC 2 News reporter Corley Peel obtained the court records and reached Cowley by phone, he answered but declined to comment.
According to the affidavit, the abuse began in the summer of 2016 and continued over a period of months. The victim was 13 years old at the time. She is now an adult and recently came forward, prompting a Texas Rangers investigation.
Court records show Cowley allegedly coached the girl on what to say if they were ever caught — instructing her to deny everything, just as he would, telling her that if they both denied it, there would be no case against him.
According to the affidavit, Cowley told her repeatedly that he would never go to jail, and that he would rather commit “suicide by cop” or kill himself in prison, or flee to England, if he were ever imprisoned.
The girl told investigators she stayed silent for years because she was afraid of losing him and did not want him to harm himself.
Bob Sanborn, President and CEO of Children at Risk, says using the threat of self-harm to silence a victim is a recognized tactic.
“I think that a lot of times it’s figuring out what feels like a threat to that young person. In this case, threatening suicide or threatening bodily harm to themselves, if they feel like that’s gonna be something that keeps them quiet, that’s what they’re gonna do,” Sanborn said.
Cowley is an 11-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and was assigned to its Crisis Intervention Response Team, a program that pairs deputies with mental health clinicians to help people experiencing serious mental health crises.
Sanborn says cases involving authority figures are particularly troubling because children are conditioned to trust them.
“It’s sort of reprehensible when anyone of authority, whether it’s a teacher, a sheriff’s deputy, or someone that we should all be trusting, gets involved in these types of things. Children are going to trust a teacher, they’re gonna trust a counselor, they’re gonna trust a sheriff’s deputy. Whenever this happens, it breaks that trust,” Sanborn said.
He added that cases like this are unusual, but not unknown, and urged parents to stay alert.
Sanborn says parents should watch for sudden and significant changes in a child’s behavior, including withdrawal, unusual silence, a drop in school performance or bedwetting.
“If all of a sudden they’re withdrawn, not doing well academically when they were before, bigger changes are some of the things you really look out for,” Sanborn said.
He also warned about adults who try to create a special, secretive bond with a child.
“Some of the common tactics are really to express a lot of affection, to talk about love, to say, ‘It’s between you and I, and we are having these secrets.’ Those are red flags,” Sanborn said.
Sanborn says if a child seems overly close to an adult, or conversely withdrawn and upset around a specific adult, parents should pay attention to both.
Sanborn says open communication between parents and children is the most powerful tool against grooming.
“It’s about a mom or a dad feeling like there’s really open communication so that if any child feels like something unusual is happening, they can go to mom or dad and say, ‘Hey, is this normal?’” Sanborn said.
He said parents should teach their children one clear rule: if someone tells you to keep a secret, tell a parent immediately.
“No matter what, whenever someone says, ‘Don’t tell someone,’ you need to tell mom. There really can’t be secrets. Unless someone says, ‘Don’t tell mom about this birthday present,’ by and large, if someone says let’s keep this a secret, you probably want to tell mom pretty quickly,” Sanborn said.
He also noted that most child sexual abuse does not come from strangers.
“We hear about trafficking. We hear about kidnapping. But the fact is, what’s going to happen is with your daughter or your son, someone is going to have an unusual relationship. These are the things that you want to watch out for,” Sanborn said.
Cowley remains on administrative leave from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office as the investigation continues.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
