San Jacinto County deputy indicted on stalking charges, fired after arrest

A San Jacinto County sheriff’s lieutenant who once held a senior public-safety post is now accused of stalking a Trinity County resident through a string of unwanted, anonymous calls that investigators say stretched across much of 2025.

Nathan Deweese was indicted Monday, April 13, 2026, by a Trinity County grand jury on a stalking charge after investigators said he repeatedly called the woman between August and November 2025. Court documents said the calls came from a blocked number, and some were silent or included breathing and sexually suggestive comments.

Investigators also said the caller refused to identify himself and claimed to know details about the woman he kept calling. Court records did not say whether Deweese knew her or why he allegedly kept making the calls.

The case has put a spotlight on oversight inside the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office, where Deweese served as a lieutenant and deputy before the indictment. As a senior law-enforcement officer, he would have been expected to set the standard for professional conduct, not become the subject of a criminal stalking case involving a neighbor county and a private resident.

The indictment followed earlier action tied to the same alleged pattern of calls. On April 10, 2026, Deweese had already been charged with harassment and relieved of duty after a grand jury in Trinity County reviewed the case. ABC13 Houston reported that the sheriff’s office had placed him on administrative leave and reassigned him to a reduced bank during an internal review before the indictment.

That timeline raises a blunt question for residents in San Jacinto County and across East Texas: whether warning signs were caught early enough, and whether a deputy accused of repeated unwanted contact should have remained in any operational role while the review was underway.

Trinity County officials said Deweese was allowed to turn himself in to authorities in San Jacinto County. The San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office later said he had been terminated.

Under Texas law, stalking is generally a third-degree felony. The offense involves a course of conduct on more than one occasion directed at a specific person and intended to cause fear or harassment. In this case, the alleged conduct crossed county lines and involved a law-enforcement officer with the authority to enforce the law, deepening the trust gap for a region where public confidence in local agencies depends on accountability as much as arrests.