Former Texas teacher, boyfriend face nearly $9M bond on 38 child sex charges

A former Texas substitute teacher and her boyfriend now face a total of 38 charges of child sex crimes, with bail set at nearly $9 million.

Madison Paige Jones, a former substitute teacher in the Midlothian Independent School District, and her boyfriend Zackery Dondlinger were first arrested in December after Midlothian police launched an investigation into allegations involving a 5-year-old child who lived in Jones’ home.

Jones’ bail was initially set at $90,000 and Dondlinger’s at $250,000, but after additional charges were filed earlier this month, their bonds increased significantly.

Jones faces 13 counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, one count of possession of child pornography, two counts of indecency with a child involving sexual contact and three counts of indecency with a child involving exposure.

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Madison Jones, 30, was arrested by Midlothian Police Department officers on December 19, 2025. (Ellis County Sheriff’s Office)

Dondlinger faces one count of sexual performance by a child under 14, 13 counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, two counts of indecency with a child involving sexual contact, three counts of indecency with a child involving exposure and a felony warrant for his arrest.

Dondlinger’s bail is now set at $5 million, while Jones’ bail is set at $3.8 million.

NBC affiliate NewsChannel10 in Amarillo reported that court documents show Midlothian police were called to the home of a woman on Dec. 17 who identified herself as a friend of Jones.

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Zackery Dondlinger faces multiple child sex crimes in Ellis County, Texas. (Ellis County Sheriff’s Office)

The woman told officers she was concerned about Dondlinger’s behavior toward a 5-year-old child who lived in Jones’ home. Jones and Dondlinger were a couple at the time.

According to the documents, Jones told investigators that Dondlinger ordered her to sexually assault the child and that she carried out the acts. The documents also say Jones told authorities that Dondlinger had sexual fantasies involving the child.

Affidavits obtained by the station indicate Jones described the sexual acts to investigators and told police she recorded videos of the abuse and sent them to Dondlinger via Snapchat.

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A Texas substitute teacher was arrested and charged with several crimes, including aggravated sexual assault of a child, on December 19, 2025. (fstop123/iStock via Getty Images Plus)

Investigators later seized Jones’ iPhone while executing a search warrant, and an affidavit reportedly said the phone contained a message from Dondlinger that supported Jones’ account that he acted under his orders. Authorities also seized an iPad from Jones, while two iPhones were seized from Dondlinger at the time of his arrest.

Jones was first arrested Dec. 19 after police began investigating a report two days earlier of a possible sexual assault of a child.

Detectives later identified Dondlinger, 37, as the second suspect in the case, and he was arrested Dec. 23 and charged with sexual performance by a child, according to the Midlothian Police Department.

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Midlothian police previously told Fox News Digital that Jones and Dondlinger were in a romantic relationship.

The Midlothian Independent School District said Jones was no longer employed by the district and confirmed she had worked as a substitute teacher four times in the past year. School officials also said they had no information to suggest the allegations were related to Jones’ work or occurred on school property.