GILLESPIE COUNTY, Texas – A now-former Gillespie County deputy was arrested and held without bond in connection with the deletion of hundreds of messages on a department-issued phone, as well as multiple sexual encounters with a woman while on the job, according to an arrest affidavit.
The ex-deputy, who was identified as 42-year-old Edward Lee Holloway III, was arrested and charged with misuse of official information, tampering with evidence and abuse of official capacity.
The misuse of official information and evidence tampering charges are considered third-degree felonies. The abuse of official capacity charge is a Class A misdemeanor.
On Aug. 27, a woman told the Texas Rangers that she and Gillespie County Sheriff’s deputy Edward Lee Holloway III, 42, had sex between the dates of July 26 and Aug. 5, including in Holloway’s patrol vehicle.
The woman told authorities that she first met Holloway on July 26 when he responded to a welfare check call at a home in Fredericksburg. According to the affidavit, the woman’s estranged husband called in to check on his children.
The woman said Holloway was at the home talking to her and her parents for more than three hours, the Texas Rangers wrote in their report. Holloway gave her marriage advice and guidance for the woman’s current legal situation, according to the arrest affidavit.
According to their report, the Texas Rangers wrote that Holloway obtained the woman’s contact information — including her number, location, and address — in his capacity with the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO).
Holloway then texted the woman from his work phone and told her he would check a Fredericksburg RV park where she lived with her parents — a different location from the original welfare check call, documents show.
The ex-deputy’s alleged encounters
Holloway then stopped by the RV park and met the woman while in uniform and in his patrol vehicle, the affidavit states.
Records show they talked in the RV and then moved outside to Holloway’s patrol car. He then invited the woman into the vehicle where he placed handcuffs on her and touched her breast and inner leg, according to the Texas Rangers’ report.
In a second encounter, the affidavit states Holloway took the woman to a communal bathroom in her RV park. Before the encounter, the woman said Holloway used his work radio to tell a dispatcher he would be unavailable.
In the bathroom, Holloway and the woman had sex, records indicate.
They also met for sexual encounters for a third and fourth time at the RV park, according to the Texas Rangers’ report. The woman preserved a rag and comforter used during the fourth time they met, according to the affidavit.
Holloway acted in his official capacity as a deputy and wearing a GCSO uniform during each encounter at the RV park, the affidavit states.
According to the report, Holloway also used his sheriff’s office-issued vehicle to travel to the woman for each encounter.
How the woman framed the alleged encounters
The woman told the Texas Rangers she felt pressured to have sex with Holloway and likened the encounters to sexual assault or “rape.”
On Aug. 28, the Texas Rangers reviewed 900 texts between Holloway’s work-issued phone and the woman, the affidavit states.
According to the report, the Texas Rangers wrote it was “clear” from the texts that the sexual encounters were consensual and solicited by Holloway and the woman.
“...I am going to delete all of these (sic) I suggest you do the same,” Holloway allegedly texted the woman on his work phone. Holloway told her iMessage was turned off on his phone, so he was going to delete the texts between them, according to the affidavit.
Department policy prohibits the use of work-issued electronics for personal business or personal benefit.
The Texas Rangers also noted that GCSO vehicles are equipped with GPS. In their affidavit, data collected by the vehicle indicated Holloway visited the RV park in Fredericksburg multiple times.
“It was clear that Deputy Holloway was using his county issued cellular telephone to further and conceal the sexual relationship between him and (the woman),” the Texas Rangers wrote in the affidavit.
Investigators noted that it was clear Holloway used his work phone and vehicle to obtain the “benefit” of a sexual relationship with the woman.
The collective value of the misused vehicle and phone is valued at least $750 but less than $2,500, according to the affidavit.
Records also indicated that it was clear an offense had been committed when Holloway deleted the messages between him and the woman with the intent to conceal evidence for any subsequent investigation related to the offenses.
Holloway’s charges
Holloway was charged with misuse of official information, tampering with evidence and abuse of official capacity. No bond was set in this case.
Gillespie County Sheriff Chris Ayala told KSAT 12 News on Wednesday that this behavior will not be tolerated in his department.
“We have a commitment to our community, to do our best while we’re in the official capacity of our job as a sheriff deputy and me as Sheriff,” Ayala said.
Holloway’s time of service with Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office was 136 days — from April 14, 2025 to Aug. 28, 2025.
He previously worked for the Kerrville Police Department for 12 years — from October 2012 to April 14, 2025.
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