Shepherd Escapes From Home Confinement

On Thursday, August 15, 2024 John Brian Shepherd was present in Tyler County Circuit Court for a pre-trial hearing in anticipation of moving forward with a trial on Monday August 19. Shepherd has been incarcerated either by home confinement or in jail since he was charged with sex related crimes in August of 2021. Since then Shepherd has had difficulty retaining counsel and has had several different lawyers represent him. He also was charged in late 2021 with escape when he cut his home confinement bracelet and left the area. He was subsequently captured and returned to Tyler County and sentenced on the charge. He served his time for that crime and was recently released back to home confinement on a posted bond release. On Thursday following his scheduled pretrial hearing he again cut his home confinement bracelet and absconded the area. He is facing the following charges; Sexual Assault in the First Degree; eight counts of Sexual Abuse by a Guardian; two counts of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree; one count of Sexual Abuse by a Parent, and one count of Incest. As of press time he was still on the run. Anyone with information as to his location is asked to contact the Tyler County E-911 Center at 304-758-2911.