Trial to Proceed for Canyon Lake Soccer Coach Charged with Sexually Assaulting a Child

Former Canyon Lake Youth Soccer Club (CLYSC) coach and board member Justin Villarreal will stand trial later this year on second-degree felony charges of sexual assault of a child.

At a pretrial hearing on May 10, Villarreal decided to proceed to trial. His next appearance in court will be July 12 for a “jury status” or conference hearing. A trial date has not been set by district court. The case will be assigned to a judge once a trial date is set.

Martin Bautizta, an investigator with the Comal County District Attorney’s DA’s office, said jury trials, which were canceled last year due to COVID-19, have not yet resumed. Renovations to the courthouse annex are still underway and also could affect the court’s scheduling. Once trials do resume, cases involving inmates awaiting trial will be prioritized over others.

The earliest the case could be heard is September, he said.

Several people who know Villarreal through soccer and school activities describe him as a “loving, involved parent, the last person you would suspect.”

Sources with immediate knowledge of the situation say the charges were initially filed in May 2020 following a separate but “precipitating” incident in Lake Sommerville State Park & Trailway.

Villarreal allegedly tried to molest a 17-year-old boy who fled the scene in Villarreal’s truck. After this incident a second victim, a teenage girl, also came forward.

He was arrested in the Houston area on July 16, 2020 by Harris County Precinct 4 constables, who were asked by Texas Rangers to “assist with a sexual assault of a juvenile warrant arrest on a wanted felon.”

Villarreal was booked into the Harris County Jail for the open warrant out of Comal County, and arraigned in Comal County in October of last year.