according to<\/a>\u00a0FOX 4.\u00a0<\/p>\nAccording to prosecutors, Lough had inappropriate contact with a 17-year-old girl who attended the\u00a0Christian Center of Mesquite\u00a0church, where his father was the senior pastor before resigning on Nov. 23. <\/p>\n
Lough later went on to become the victim\u2019s volleyball coach.<\/p>\n
The investigation began after the victim\u2019s mother contacted local police in early October after finding inappropriate text messages between Lough and her daughter, FOX 4 reported.<\/p>\n
In a police interview, the victim reportedly told authorities she first met Lough at an event celebrating her cousin\u2019s graduation in May 2023. Lough allegedly approached the victim as she was playing volleyball with her sister to discuss a sports team he was trying to create.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthan Lough, 32, was taken into custody on a single charge of child grooming on Dec.10. Mesquite Police Department<\/p>\n
In the spring of 2025, Lough allegedly contacted the victim to request her phone number so that he could send her a volleyball highlight reel, FOX 4 reported. <\/p>\n
However, authorities reportedly say the conversations quickly escalated in the summer, with Lough sending the victim text messages about her appearance. He later allegedly began requesting explicit photos from the minor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Authorities pointed to three key alleged incidents in September that ultimately led to the\u00a0child grooming charges, according to FOX 4. <\/p>\n
Prosecutors allege Lough hugged and kissed the victim inside a storage closet at their shared church, participated in oral sex with the victim while his daughter was in gymnastics class, and met up with her in a parking lot, where he is accused of touching the victim inappropriately.<\/p>\n
Lough was allegedly grooming a teenage girl by using an AI-generated document to outline manipulation tactics.\u00a0 burdun \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n
As officials began investigating Lough\u2019s alleged behavior, they reportedly discovered an\u00a0AI-generated document\u00a0titled, \u201cHypothetical Counter-Influence Plan.\u201d The five-step plan allegedly outlined ways to manipulate women, while providing details on how to achieve each step.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to the affidavit, the five steps were to \u201cstabilize and strengthen her,\u201d \u201cplant gentle doubts,\u201d \u201crebuild her autonomy,\u201d \u201cshift the power dynamic,\u201d and finally, \u201clet her choose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The victim also reportedly told investigators she felt fearful of Lough because he had a \u201cstep-by-step process\u201d on how to kill someone and also carried a concealed firearm.<\/p>\n
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Christian Center of Mesquite said Lough was not an employee of the church, but conceded the allegations may have taken place on the organization\u2019s property.<\/p>\n
Lough had inappropriate contact with a 17-year-old girl who attended the\u00a0Christian Center of Mesquite\u00a0church, where his father was the senior pastor before resigning on Nov. 23. Google St View<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Church Board is unified in its strongest possible condemnation of the criminal actions that led to this arrest,\u201d the board said in a statement. \u201cWe note that Mathan Lough was not an employee of CCM. Our immediate priority is to support and seek justice for the victim and her family. We extend our deepest prayers for their healing and protection during this profoundly painful time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lough\u2019s father, Senior Pastor Kevin Lough, reportedly resigned from his position last month, though he has not been accused of any wrongdoing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Mesquite Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital\u2019s request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lough previously worked as a teacher and coach at Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy, and formerly served as a\u00a0club volleyball coach\u00a0for a local team, according to FOX 4.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fox News Digital was unable to immediately identify an attorney representing Lough.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A\u00a0former Texas teacher and coach\u00a0has been arrested for allegedly grooming a teenage girl by using an AI-generated document…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3436,4495,2119,26751,8127,27,29,28,734],"class_list":{"0":"post-92614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-artificial-intelligence","9":"tag-coaches","10":"tag-grooming","11":"tag-sex-crimes","12":"tag-teachers","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-texas-headlines","15":"tag-texas-news","16":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92614","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=92614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}