A substitute teacher and her boyfriend have been charged with sex crimes against a 5-year-old girl.
Madison Paige Jones, 30, and Zackery Dondlinger, 37, from the town of Happy in northern Texas, face a combined 39 counts of child sex crimes, KVII reported. They are being held on bonds of almost $9 million.
The alleged abuse took place between Dec. 5-17, 2025, and involved a young girl, Midlothian, Texas, said.
Cops were called on Dec. 17 to investigate reports of sexual assault involving a child; Jones was arrested two days later.
The call was made by a woman who identified herself as a friend of Jones. She said she had concerns over Dondlinger’s behavior towards a 5-year-old child in Jones’ home, court documents obtained by NewsChannel10 read.
Officers then spoke to Jones who confessed to sexually assaulting the child, adding Dondlinger told her to do so, court documents show.
Jones said Dondlinger was having sexual fantasies about the child. She said she sent videos of the acts to him via Snapchat.
During this time, she was working as a substitute teacher for the Midlothian Independent School District.
Dondlinger, who was arrested on Dec. 23 on an oil rig an hour’s drive west of Odessa, Texas, faces 13 counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, three counts of indecency with a child exposes, two counts of indecency with a child sexual contact, and one count each of sexual performance by a child and possession with intent to promote child pornography.
Jones faces 13 counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, four counts of indecency with a child exposes, one count of indecency with a child sexual contact, and one count of possession with intent to promote child pornography.
Officers seized Jones’ iPhone and iPad. They also seized two iPhones belonging to Dondlinger.
Midlothian ISD confirmed that Jones was no longer employed by them.
