Man flees to Europe to avoid child abuse investigation, deputies say

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A 50-year-old man has been charged with two counts of continuous sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child in Harris County.

Investigators said that Dwayne Bernard Howard was at the center of a child sexual assault case in October 2010 when he fled to Europe in order to avoid Harris County Sheriff’s Office child abuse investigators.

Recommended Videos



He is currently being held at the Fort Bend County Jail on unrelated charges prior to his sexual assault allegations.

According to deputies, two teenage girls, ages 11 and 16 years old, revealed during an initial investigation that they were sexually abused by Howard.

Investigators said that Howard forced one victim to pose wearing provocative clothing while he photographed her.

The victims also told examiners that Howard would use a live web camera and film them without clothing.

The defendant was arrested in Fort Bend County in February 2016.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office case was reopened when a third victim came forward, a teenage boy who said he was also abused by Howard.

That victim told investigators that Howard abused him sexually from the age of 12 until he was 15 years old.

The victim gave a detailed description of Howard’s laptop computer, which is now in the custody of the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office. Howard was suspected of file-sharing child pornography while in Europe.

Howard was previously convicted in 1998 for an indecency with a child charge and was sentenced to six years in prison.