A Fredericksburg mother of six has taken Gillespie County and a former sheriff's deputy to court, filing a civil lawsuit that accuses him of sexually assaulting and harassing her multiple times while on duty. The suit requests a jury trial and seeks damages for physical pain, mental anguish, and medical and counseling expenses.
Filed Wednesday, the complaint names former Deputy Edward Holloway III and alleges the encounters happened in July and August 2025, including inside his patrol vehicle and in communal bathrooms at an RV park. It also claims Gillespie County failed to adequately screen and supervise Holloway. Those allegations, along with the county's decision to terminate him, are laid out in the court filing, according to KEYE/CBS Austin.
Holloway was arrested in August 2025 after a Texas Rangers investigation that, investigators say, found he deleted hundreds of messages from a department-issued phone and used his sheriff's vehicle to make multiple trips to the RV park. Prosecutors charged him with misuse of official information, tampering with evidence, and abuse of official capacity, and investigators reviewed roughly 900 text messages and GPS data as part of their affidavit, per KSAT. Gillespie County Sheriff Chris Ayala told KSAT the conduct would not be tolerated.
What the lawsuit says
The complaint outlines a pattern that began when Holloway first responded to a welfare check, then allegedly arranged repeated private meetings where he groped the woman, placed her in handcuffs, and showed her weapons, according to the suit. The woman says she felt unable to refuse because Holloway was the lead deputy on her domestic case and that he later stalked and intimidated her, prompting her to take evidence to the FBI and Texas Rangers instead of local investigators, according to KEYE/CBS Austin.
Legal and administrative fallout
The suit brings claims of sexual assault and battery against Holloway and negligence against Gillespie County. It seeks compensatory damages for physical and emotional harm, along with past and future counseling costs. On the administrative side, Holloway's peace officer status appears to have been surrendered, with his name listed under "Permanent Surrenders" on the April 15, 2026, agenda from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Criminal charges from the 2025 investigation remain pending, per reporting by KSAT.
What comes next
The civil case will move forward in Gillespie County courts, with the plaintiff asking for a jury to hear her claims. How the civil docket is scheduled, along with decisions by prosecutors on the related criminal charges, will shape the timeline. In the meantime, the suit has placed the county's hiring and supervision practices under a brighter spotlight as residents and officials watch for the next round of filings and hearings.
