Image sources: Matthan Timothy Lough, courtesy of Mesquite Police Department. Christian Center of Mesquite, © Google, via Google Maps.
Mesquite police have arrested Matthan Lough, a former teacher and volleyball coach, for the offense of child grooming following an investigation involving a minor at the Christian Center of Mesquite. Their investigation is ongoing.
Arrest and Police Investigation
The Mesquite Police Department reported that it received a complaint on October 2, 2025, regarding possible child grooming at the Christian Center of Mesquite, located on 4401 E Cartwright Rd, Mesquite, TX. Police identified Matthan Timothy Lough, 32, of Crandall, Texas, as the suspect following an investigation.
The victim’s mother reported the alleged crime to police after discovering inappropriate sexual messages between Lough and her daughter. An arrest warrant was obtained, and Lough was arrested by Mesquite police investigators. They charged him with child grooming, a felony under Texas law. He was later released on bond. As of this writing, no court date has been publicly announced.
He is married with three young children, although it has been reported that his wife has filed for divorce.
Lough was a teacher and coach at Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy in Mesquite, Texas. He was also a local club volleyball coach. His father was the senior pastor at the Christian Center of Mesquite; according to police records, some of the alleged conduct occurred at or in connection with the church.
Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact the Mesquite Police Department at 972-216-6701.
What the Arrest Affidavit Alleges
According to The Dallas Morning News, on September 28, 2025, the victim’s mother “found sexually explicit texts and Whatsapp messages. She said she contacted Lough’s wife, who found similar messages on Lough’s iPad, the affidavit said.”
The victim was reportedly 16 years old in December 2024, when she began communicating with Lough through WhatsApp on a phone she received from a school friend. The affidavit said that the messages were deleted before the victim’s mother accessed the device.
Investigators allege that the victim first encountered Lough in May 2023 at her cousin’s graduation party, “where he approached her while she was playing volleyball with her sister, the affidavit said. He said he was putting together a volleyball club and asked her if she wanted to join.” (The Dallas Morning News) This club was identified as the Mesquite Dynasty Volleyball Club. According to CBS News, “The victim recognized Lough from church, as his wife was the worship leader for their youth group.”
In November 2024, tryouts were held for the team, and the victim was selected to join.
According to the affidavit, the victim reported a series of unusual interactions with Lough over the months after she joined the volleyball team. She told investigators that Lough shared “overly personal details about his life and marriage” and began making inappropriate jokes.
According to The Dallas Morning News, “The affidavit said Lough highlighted the victim during team events and gave her multiple awards at the end-of-the-season party in spring 2025. He created a highlight reel of the victim’s volleyball performance and sent it to her via text.”
The victim also reported that Lough began buying her energy drinks and used those interactions to further “build a relationship” with her.
Reported Threats and Coercion
Lough’s behavior escalated when he allegedly began sending messages referencing his physical arousal and asking the victim for explicit images. According to the affidavit, the victim told police that “she complied out of fear and pressure.”
Then Lough reportedly began telling the victim step-by-step how he would kill someone, saying that he “liked the art of stabbing because it was personal,” according to the affidavit.
“Over a series of different conversations, Lough told the victim he had an assault rifle, pistol and a knife on him at all times when he was a security guard in Missouri and also described, in great detail, how he would kill her ex-boyfriend by cutting off his body parts and stabbing him, the affidavit said.” (The Dallas Morning News)
He also reportedly claimed he would kill her father “and a male student at school who wouldn’t leave her alone, the affidavit said.” (The Dallas Morning News)
The affidavit describes several encounters at the church during which Lough hugged the victim and deliberately guided her hands to his firearm, ensuring she knew he was armed, which made the victim “feel fearful and trapped.”
The Dallas Morning News reported, “The victim told police she was worried that she could be a potential target, which led her to ‘comply with anything the individual asked of her,’ according to the affidavit.”
Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Matthan Lough
The victim described what she referred to as a significant incident at the church near the end of August, when Lough took her into a storage closet, removed her clothing, and kissed her. She described the interaction as “very aggressive.”
The affidavit also details an incident on September 29, when the victim brought her sister to a gymnastics practice in Forney that Lough also attended with his daughter. According to the affidavit, Lough asked the victim to go to the car, pressured her to comply despite her resistance, and touched her inappropriately. The victim told police she feared her sister would discover what was happening, but Lough told her “she needed to just figure it out.”
In another incident described in the affidavit, investigators write that Lough urged the victim to leave school and meet him in a parking lot, where he coerced her into sexual acts.
Statements Attributed to Lough in the Arrest Affidavit
The affidavit further states that Lough “repeatedly told the victim that their relationship was consensual and not illegal because she was 17. Matthan also told [the victim] that if the two were caught, his parents would still love him,” but “there would be a ‘public hanging’, which [the victim] indicated that Matthan was inferring that the church would hang her because the relationship was her fault.”
Reported Use of Artificial Intelligence
Media reports state that investigators recovered a digital note on Lough’s iPad titled “Hypothetical Counter-Influence Plan,” which appeared to have been generated using artificial intelligence. The “plan” included these phases, as outlined in the affidavit:
- Stabilize & Strengthen Her
- Plant Gentle Doubts
- Rebuild Her Autonomy
- Shift the Power Dynamic
- Let Her Choose
How the Allegations Reflect Common Grooming Tactics
The allegations outlined in the arrest warrant affidavit describe a disturbing pattern of grooming tactics. According to the affidavit, Lough did not begin with overt sexual or physical contact. Instead, the allegations describe a gradual process in which access, attention, and repeated boundary violations were used to build control over time.
As described in the affidavit, Lough allegedly used his role as a coach to establish contact with the victim. The allegations include singling the victim out through praise, awards, gifts, and individualized attention.These actions reflect a pattern in which “special treatment” is used to build trust and emotional reliance.
The affidavit also describes an effort by Lough to reframe his actions as consensual or lawful. According to the affidavit, Lough emphasized the victim’s age and suggested that responsibility would fall on her if the conduct were discovered, while portraying himself as insulated from consequences.
These statements reflect victim-blaming tactics, in which a predator shifts responsibility onto a victim (in this case, a child) and suggests that disclosure will result in harm to the victim rather than accountability for the perpetrator.
The affidavit also alleges that fear and intimidation were introduced. The allegations include repeated discussions of weapons and threats toward people the victim knew. The victim told police that these actions made her feel fearful and trapped, leading her to comply.
Viewed as a whole, the allegations illustrate how grooming can involve a deliberate progression: gaining access, building trust, introducing fear and threats, escalating control, and shifting blame.
Grooming involves a misuse of authority, power, and control; patterns that are reflected in the allegations described in this case.
Lough’s Access to Youth
One concerning aspect of this case is that Lough previously had access to children through multiple roles.
Records from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) show that Lough holds a Texas teaching certificate in music. His certification is currently under review by the agency’s Educator Investigations Division. This is separate from the criminal case.
According to law enforcement and public reporting, he formerly worked as a teacher and coach at Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy (PTAA) in Mesquite and was also a club volleyball coach for a Mesquite-based program, which was later disbanded.
His LinkedIn profile further indicates that he previously worked as a teacher in the Kennett School District from 2018 to 2021.
PTAA has stated that Lough was not employed by the district during the 2025–2026 school year, and police have not alleged that any of the reported conduct occurred on a school campus. Even so, the allegations raise serious concerns given Lough’s prior roles in educational and youth-serving settings, where he was entrusted with access to minors.
The Christian Center of Mesquite’s Response
The reported grooming in this case involved a minor connected to a church setting.
Lough is the son of Kevin Lough, who was the senior pastor of the Christian Center of Mesquite at the time the report was made. The church has stated that Kevin Lough resigned from his position on November 23, 2025.
In a statement cited by media outlets, church leadership said it strongly condemns the alleged criminal conduct that led to the arrest and emphasized that Matthan Lough was not an employee of the church.
Publicly available information also lists Micah Lough as a youth pastor at the church.
The presence of multiple family members in leadership roles raises questions about oversight, supervision, and safeguards for minors within the church.
Potential Civil Liability for the Church
While the criminal case against Matthan Timothy Lough focuses on individual conduct, a civil case would examine whether an institution failed to protect someone from foreseeable harm. Employment status alone does not determine civil responsibility. Churches and other youth-serving organizations still owe a duty of care to children participating in activities on their property or under their supervision.
Civil cases can examine whether an institution failed to enforce child-safety policies, ignored warning signs, lacked adequate oversight, or failed to act once concerns arose. Civil liability does not require a criminal conviction; it focuses on whether institutional failures contributed to or allowed abuse. For survivors, civil accountability can provide access to compensation for the emotional and physical harm that has occurred, while also forcing institutions to confront their failures and implement stronger protections to prevent future abuse.
Legal Options for Survivors
If you were harmed by Matthan Timothy Lough or experienced sexual abuse or grooming in a school, church, or youth program, you may have legal options available to you.
Andreozzi + Foote represents survivors of sexual abuse in civil cases in Texas and nationwide.
We have a trauma-informed, survivor-centered approach, understanding that coming forward about abuse can be difficult and is deeply personal.
We offer free, confidential consultations where you can ask questions, learn about your legal rights, and decide what your next steps are. There is no obligation to move forward unless and until you are ready.
Contact us today.
