FORMER MADISON CO. DEPUTY CHARGE WITH 2000 SEXUAL ASSAULT
(Madison Co. Jail)
A former Madison County Sheriff's deputy has been charged with aggravated sexual assault that reportedly occurred 20 years ago.
Authorities say Ivan Wayne Linebaugh of Bedias was arrested Monday by the Texas Rangers on the charge.
Linebaugh was a deputy with the Madison County Sheriff's Department until 2011.
The arrest stems from an April 2000 traffic stop near Madisonville. The victim claims a sheriff’s deputy forced her to perform a sexual act in lieu of going to jail.
The case remained unsolved until 2017, when the Rangers reopened the case and with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, conducted DNA genealogy research that led to Linebaugh's arrest.
Linebaugh was taken to the Madison County jail and charged with the first-degree felony.