BEAUMONT, Texas — A computer error at the jail in Jefferson County resulted in an inmate who was being held on child sex assault charges to be released on a much lower bond than he should have been.
Billy Lynn Wooley is being held in the Jefferson County Correctional Facility on several charges including Indecency with a child, sexual assault, aggravated assault and felony assault family violence according to jail records.
Wooley was briefly released for a few hours on March 23, 2023, on a $200,000 bond.
But, his bond was actually twice that amount at $400,000 and once jail staff noticed the error deputies went looking for him.
Wooley was re-arrested within hours of being released as deputies were able to easily track him down due to the GPS ankle monitor he was forced to wear as part of his bond, Sheriff Zena Stephens told 12News on Thursday.
Currently the entire county is upgrading their computer system.
A judge in February doubled his bonds, raising them from $200,000 to $400,000, but the computer at the jail still showed the original lower amount.
The county's computers have not had a major upgrade in the 32 years that Jefferson County Chief Deputy John Shauberger has been employed with the county he told 12News on Friday.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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