Rodney Burl Nichols was the mayor of Valley Mills, Texas. In 2005 while he was on the city council, he was charged with child molestation, but the grand jury declined to indict. He was reappointed to the council and then served as mayor. In 2018, he was indicted for continuous sexual abuse of a child when two girls came forward, ages 11 and 13, and claimed he had touched them inappropriately.
When they came forward, he shot himself but survived. His wife, though, had a heart attack and died.
Later an additional ten counts of indecency with a child were added. He was sentenced to ten years probation and sex offender registration.
- KWTX: Valley Mills: Ex-mayor faces 10 new child indecency charges
- The US Sun: MAYOR ‘PAEDO’ Ex-Mayor tries to kill himself after being accused of 10 counts of child sex abuse ‘causing his wife to die
- Waco Tribune: Former Valley Mills mayor charged with sexual abuse of child
