Ex-Galveston judge arrested on warrants
Disgraced official faces charges of online impersonation, stalking in two counties
Galveston County deputies arrested disgraced former Judge Christopher Dupuy near Austin on Monday morning on outstanding warrants from both Galveston and Harris counties.
Dupuy, who served as a Galveston County judge from 2010 to 2013, faces two charges of online impersonation stemming from a 2015 arrest and was being held on a $400,000 in bond in Galveston County jail, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said.
Harris County also issued a warrant for a stalking charge against Dupuy in May, which carries an $888,888 bond, after a woman filed a stalking complaint alleging Dupuy had followed and threatened to kill her.
Trochesset said deputies from the Galveston County Sheriff’s warrant division traveled to the Austin area to find Dupuy. With the help of U.S. Marshals and Austin Police Department officers, they executed a search warrant at a residence south of Austin on Monday morning.
“At the time when they walked in, (Dupuy) was pulling the attic door down like he was making an attempt to climb into the attic to hide,” Trochesset said.
Dupuy was arrested and booked in Hays County jail on Monday, where he appeared before a magistrate judge. He was then transferred to Galveston County jail on Tuesday.
Dupuy was arrested in League City in July 2015 on two felony counts of online impersonation.
Court records claim Dupuy created fake escort ads to take revenge on two of his ex-girlfriends. He allegedly took pictures from the women’s Facebook accounts and one texted to him during a previous dating relationship and purchased fake escort ads on Backpage.com promising sex. The ads reportedly included the victims’ personal phone numbers.
Investigators were able to track down a fake name Dupuy allegedly used to purchase the ads: Don Tequila. And although software was used that masked his computer’s IP address, investigators obtained a search warrant and were reportedly able to locate evidence that showed Dupuy was the person behind the fake ads.
A visiting judge in the 405th District Court in June 2016 dismissed two counts of online harassment, arguing the state’s online impersonation statute was unconstitutional. The 14th Court of Appeals reversed the judge’s decision.
The Harris County warrant for Dupuy was issued May 24 after a woman filed a complaint that Dupuy had called her about 200 times beginning at 11 p.m. the night before threatening to kill her.
The woman told Harris County deputies Dupuy had represented her former husband in their divorce.
Dupuy resigned from the bench in 2013 after being charged with multiple counts of lying under oath and abuse of office, including retaliation against the attorney representing his wife in a divorce case.