{"id":258902,"date":"2026-04-21T03:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T03:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/258902\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T03:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T03:39:14","slug":"east-texas-man-gets-2-life-sentences-for-aggravated-sexual-assault-of-a-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/258902\/","title":{"rendered":"East Texas man gets 2 life sentences for aggravated sexual assault of a child"},"content":{"rendered":"

HENDERSON COUNTY, Texas (KETK)<\/a>\u2014 An East Texas man was sentenced to life in prison last week after he was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child.<\/p>\n

According to the Henderson County District Attorney\u2019s Office, 81-year-old former truck driver Randall Tidwell was arrested in 2025 after two underage girls reported that he had sexually abused them over multiple years.<\/p>\n

While both girls were living with Tidwell, he allegedly sexually abused both of them inside his truck and at his home in Seven Points. The victims later revealed Tidwell\u2019s actions once they left his home and were living in Kansas.<\/p>\n

8 children killed after domestic dispute in Shreveport <\/a><\/p>\n

\"<em>Mugshot<\/p>\n

Mugshot of Randall Tidwell courtesy of the Henderson County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/p>\n

During the investigation, Tidwell admitted to sexually abusing the girls on more than one occasion and was given two life sentences in prison last week after he was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe children had so much support during the trial, from the eldest\u2019s former principal and her 1st grade teacher, to witnesses from Kansas who flew and drove in from out of State to ensure they received justice for what happened to them,\u201d Henderson County District Attorney Jenny Palmer said \u201cThe jury took less than 20 minutes to reach their two life sentences verdict. Tidwell will never again see freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can now stream KETK and FOX51 News live 24\/7 on your smart TV\u00a0with\u00a0KETK+<\/a>,\u00a0our brand-new app! No antenna, cable, or satellite needed\u2014watch for free, anytime.\u00a0Just download it on your Roku, Apple TV, or Fire TV and start streaming.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HENDERSON COUNTY, Texas (KETK)\u2014 An East Texas man was sentenced to life in prison last week after he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6827,8232,2608,97084,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-258902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-aggravated-sexual-assault","tag-henderson-county","tag-ketk","tag-randall-tidwell","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}