Sentencing delayed for Fort Worth-area man who molested boy in recreation center

Aug. 12--FORT WORTH -- A sentencing hearing was delayed Wednesday morning in federal court for a Grapevine man accused of molesting and taking nude photos of a boy at a Grapevine recreation center.

The sentencing for Chansellor Hill was rescheduled for Friday morning. A court official who made the announcement of the change did not provide any details on the reason for the delay.

Hill, 26, of Grapevine, repeatedly was released from jail after being arrested on alleged sex crimes in late 2019.

The Grapevine man pleaded guilty in April to a federal charge of sexual exploitation of children.

Hill faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Hill drew state-wide attention earlier this year when Gov. Greg Abbott said on Twitter that the Texas state legislature would consider bail reform proposals after concerns were raised over Hill's earlier release from jail.

"My office will look into this tragedy," Abbott said on Twitter

Parents concerned about Hill being out of jail on bond on several occasions held a community meeting in January.

In addition to being sent to prison, Hill also must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

In the current case, authorities said, Hill sexually assaulted a boy repeatedly over the course of six months. The boy told Grapevine police Hill, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall and 260 pounds, trapped him in a family bathroom, sexually assaulted him and took pictures on his cellphone between May and October 2019, according to an arrest warrant obtained by WFAA-TV.

The alleged abuse stopped when Hill told a REC employee and later confessed to Grapevine police, according to the warrant.

Hill was arrested in October and later released on $50,000 bond

Hill later told Grapevine police Detective Peter Soltero, "I knew it was wrong ... he's 12 and I am 25. It's pretty messed up," according to a federal complaint.

But days later, the Grapevine man was arrested again on charges of indecent exposure near a playground at CJ Hutchings Park in Grapevine. No children were around at that time. His bail was set at $2,500 on that charge.

Hill was arrested a third time in December after a Silver Lake Elementary School student told Grapevine police that Hill showed him photograph of his genitals on a cellphone in April 2018, according to WFAA-TV.

The Grapevine man was taken into federal custody in January.

Hill still faces three state charges of sexual abuse of a child under 14, indecent exposure and the display of harmful material to a minor, according to Tarrant County criminal court records. Trials on those cases are pending.

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