Understanding Your Child Sex Crime Bond Conditions in Texas

A Texas judge can set bond conditions that control contact with children, where a person may go, and what devices they may use. This page explains how child sex crime bond conditions in Texas are set, changed, and enforced. It is written for the person charged and for family members who received a bond order they don’t understand.

What Bond Conditions Are and Who This Page Is For

A bond condition is a rule a judge attaches to a person’s release before trial. Bond lets the accused stay out of jail while the case moves forward. The conditions are the terms of that release.

Conditions are not the charge itself. A person can be charged with a crime and still be released under a written order.

This page is for three kinds of readers. The first is the person who was charged. The second is a parent, spouse, or relative who received a bond order and doesn’t know what it means. The third is anyone asking whether conditions can be changed.

Some conditions come from a different kind of order. At a first appearance after arrest, a magistrate may issue an emergency protection order in certain cases, including sexual assault offenses (Texas emergency protection order law). The order takes effect when it is issued. Under one subsection, it lasts at least 61 days and up to 91 days. After notice to each affected party and a hearing, a court may modify all or part of the order only if it finds that the order as originally issued is unworkable, that the modification will not place the victim of the offense at greater risk than the original order, and that it will not in any way endanger a protected person (Texas emergency protection order law).

How Texas Courts Set and Change Bond Conditions in Child Sex Cases

Texas Penal Code § 25.07 addresses violations of a bond condition set in a family violence, sexual assault or abuse, indecent assault, stalking, or trafficking case when the condition is related to the safety of a victim or the safety of the community (Texas Penal Code § 25.07). Under Texas Penal Code § 25.07, breaking a bond condition is not an offense by itself. The statute applies to a bond condition set in a family violence, sexual assault or abuse, indecent assault, stalking, or trafficking case that relates to the safety of a victim or the community, and to certain protective orders. It is an offense only when the person, in violation of that condition or order, knowingly or intentionally does one of the acts the statute lists: committing family violence or an act in furtherance of an offense under one of the sections listed in Section 25.07(a)(1); contacting a protected person in a forbidden manner; going to or near a place specifically described in the order or bond condition; or other listed conduct such as possessing a firearm or tampering with a GPS monitoring system.

Those facts shape what the court allows.

Conditions are often set at the first appearance. They can also be changed later, at a hearing, after a request is filed.

A defense lawyer can file a motion asking the court to revisit conditions. These include the accused’s ties to the community, steady work, family duties, and how the person followed earlier release terms.

No lawyer can know how a judge will rule. The judge decides each request on its facts.

Common Bond Conditions Courts Impose in Child Sex Crime Cases

Conditions are tailored to each case.

• No contact. A court can bar threatening or harassing contact with a protected person. It can bar any contact if the order says so. The order’s wording decides whether contact through an attorney or a court-appointed person is allowed (Texas Penal Code § 25.07).
• Distance limits. A court can keep a person away from the residence or place of employment or business of a protected individual or a member of the family or household, and from a child-care facility or school where a protected child normally resides or attends, as the order specifies.
• Firearms. A court can prohibit possessing a firearm, unless the person is a peace officer, as defined by Section 1.07, Penal Code, actively engaged in employment as a sworn, full-time paid employee of a state agency or political subdivision (art. 7B.005).
• Tracking and devices. A court can prohibit tracking a protected person’s property or vehicle without consent, including through a tracking app (art. 7B.005).
• If a judge grants community supervision for an offense listed in Article 42A.453(b) and determines that a child as defined by Section 22.011(c), Penal Code, was the victim of the offense, the judge shall establish a child safety zone applicable to the defendant by requiring, as a condition of community supervision, that the defendant not go in, on, or within one thousand feet of premises at which children commonly gather, including a school, day-care facility, playground, public or private youth center, public swimming pool, video arcade facility, or general residential operation operating as a residential treatment center (Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 42A.453). A judge doesn’t have to impose this if the defendant is a primary or secondary school student (Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 42A.453).

The charge matters too. Indecency with a child by sexual contact is a second-degree felony (Texas Penal Code § 21.11). The written order controls. A general list can’t tell you which terms apply to a specific case.

Requesting a Bond Reduction or Modification: Steps and Timeline

A bond reduction or modification request asks a judge to lower bond or change specific conditions. The usual steps are below.

1. Read the order. Note every condition, deadline, and reporting duty.
2. Gather the record. Collect the charging papers, bond paperwork, and any compliance records from earlier releases.
3. File the motion. Name each condition to change. Attach the facts that support the change, such as work, housing, and family ties.
4. Attend the hearing. The judge decides the request. The outcome depends on the facts presented.

No fixed timeline applies to every case. Timing depends on the court’s calendar and the stage of the case.

If the facts change, a new request can be made. Tracking each deadline from the start helps avoid missed dates.

What Happens If a Bond Condition Is Violated

In a sexual assault or abuse case, violating a bond condition can be a separate crime. Texas Penal Code § 25.07 covers violating certain bond conditions and protective orders (Texas Penal Code § 25.07).

The prohibited conduct includes threatening or harassing contact, going to a place the order describes, possessing a firearm, and tampering with a GPS monitoring system. Generally, a violation is a Class A misdemeanor. It becomes a state jail felony only under listed conditions, such as possessing a deadly weapon during the violation, or a violation after a conviction or deferred adjudication for the protected victim’s offense. It can be a third-degree felony if it is shown at trial that the violation involved an assault or stalking.

An offense under Section 25.07 is a third-degree felony if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant has previously been convicted two or more times of an offense under Section 25.07, two or more times of an offense under Section 25.072, or of an offense under Section 25.07 and an offense under Section 25.072 (Texas Penal Code § 25.07(g)(2)(A)). Repeated violation is a separate offense under Texas Penal Code § 25.072: a person commits an offense if, during a period of 12 months or less, the person on two or more occasions engages in conduct that constitutes an offense under Section 25.07. The offense is a felony of the third degree, except that it is a felony of the second degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that at least one time the person engaged in conduct punishable as a state jail felony under Section 25.07(g)(1)(B).

An officer investigating a possible violation may not arrest the protected person for violating that order (§ 25.07).

Talk to a lawyer before a question comes up, such as a school pickup or a child exchange. A defense lawyer can respond to a request to revoke bond and explain the facts behind any alleged violation.

Why Barbieri Law Firm Handles These Matters

Barbieri Law Firm is an all-women criminal defense firm in Frisco, Texas. It defends people accused of sex crimes and assaultive offenses across Collin County, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Texas.

Heather Jean Barbieri, Board Certified, Criminal Law — Texas Board of Legal Specialization

The firm’s lawyers are Heather Barbieri and Carrie Thomas. Our team reviews the charge, the bond order, and the facts together. We will explain your options from there.

The firm handles child sex crimes defense and sex crimes defense matters. That includes bond questions that come up early in a case. A defense lawyer can also help a family member understand what a bond order requires, without predicting how the case will end.

Frequently Asked Questions About Child Sex Crime Bond Conditions

What a bond condition means for a pending charge