Sex crime: Former youth pastor accused

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Authorities are investigating a man accused of aggravated sexual assault of a child, a former employee of an early childhood development school in Pflugerville who - in a separate incident - was previously accused of sexual assault with a student at the school.

Austin police arrested Gerald Laneaux, 26, on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child on July 1. He was released from jail on $100,000 bond.

Police said Laneaux sexually assaulted the 4-year-old girl in his vehicle after the child's mother asked him to pick her up from day care. The mother alerted police after she told them she noticed her daughter wasn't wearing her underwear correctly when she got home.

Authorities arrested Laneaux in January in connection to a separate incident in 2009 concerning an aggravated sexual assault of another 4-year-old girl at the  Goddard School in Pflugerville. Laneaux posted bond for that charge and finds himself under the microscope again, accused a second time of doing the same thing he allegedly did almost 10 months ago.

On Sept. 15, 2009, the mother of the student told school owners Paul and Helen Dunn that a teacher had molested her child.

Paul said the school asked Laneaux to leave that same month, employed at the school for just two months.

The school did extensive background checks prior to hiring Laneaux, even amid a resume stating his previous position as a youth minister.

Paul said the background check - done through the FBI - included a look-up of his fingerprints. In addition, they did multiple drug screenings and found nothing that would indicate any issues.

After receiving the mother's report, the Dunns' turned the information over to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which reviewed the information and cleared them of any involvement.

Paul said that after being cleared, they have not been provided any information on the investigation, though he did want to make clear that the July 1 incident had nothing to do with the Goddard School.