HAYS COUNTY, Texas – A Guadalupe County court-at-law judge said he prays his name and reputation will be restored days after prosecutors in Hays County declined to move forward with felony child abuse charges against him.
Judge Bill Squires, 47, was arrested by San Marcos police in July on felony charges of injury to a child and child abandonment/endangerment, after investigators said he forced his way into a home and struck his baby son with a door.
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The woman, identified as Squires’ then-wife, told officers that Squires had shown up at the home earlier in the night, banging on the front door of the residence and yelling to be let in.
As the woman went to unlock the door while holding the baby, Squires forced the door to fly open, striking the child on the head, an arrest affidavit states.
Squires left the home before officers arrived. The baby showed no obvious signs of injury, according to the affidavit.
A second officer later pulled over a vehicle Squires was riding in.
The driver of the vehicle said he had gone to the home with Squires and acknowledged that the suspect had been banging on the front door while pushing his suitcases against it, the affidavit states.
The witness said the door “flew open” after the woman unlocked it but he recalled that the door struck her and not the baby, according to the affidavit.
The officer said when he attempted to speak with Squires, the suspect’s “breath smelled heavily of alcohol,” he was unsteady on his feet, had to be supported by another officer at all times and had several small bottles of liquor in his possession, the affidavit states.
A Department of Public Safety trooper told police he had been summoned to the home earlier in the day and received information from the woman that the family had recently returned from Mexico and that Squires had attempted to steal her boarding passes in an effort to temporarily keep her from returning to the United States, the affidavit states.
During that same trip, Squires was also accused of telling a 9-year-old family member that she would never see his wife again, according to the affidavit.
The trooper and the woman both perceived the statement to be a threat on the woman’s life, the affidavit states.
The incident was reported to Austin police upon the family’s return to the United States.
Squires’ arrest affidavit describes him as being “heavily intoxicated and in an enraged state”, and that any reasonable person knows not to open a door to a home containing small children in that matter.
Both criminal charges against Squires were declined on Dec. 14, Hays County court records show.
When asked if he would be releasing a statement on the decision to decline charges against Squires, Hays County District Attorney Wes Mau wrote via email, “Not in the form of a press release, no.”
Mau then released to the Defenders court records showing the charges were declined because the state would be unable to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Squires, who a source in Guadalupe County said has been hearing civil and probate cases only in recent months, released the following statement Tuesday:
“It has been a long, hard six months as I have waited for the truth to prevail and for my name to be cleared. I had every confidence these baseless, categorically false claims made against me would be fully cleared in due time, but it was a difficult road. I pray my name and reputation will be restored, and my life’s mission of protecting our most vulnerable will once again be back on track. Surviving and overcoming these groundless charges has made me a better, more compassionate judge and has renewed my commitment to the ethos: justice delayed is justice denied.”
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