A convicted child sex abuser from Hardin County, who was sentenced to life in prison, died May 1 at the Gib Lewis Unit in Woodville, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Charles Phillip Hatton, 71, was found unresponsive in his cell, taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead at 12:03 p.m. An autopsy is pending to determine the cause of death.
Hatton, a former Kountze ISD employee, served less than three years of his sentence before his death.
In May 2023, a Hardin County jury convicted Hatton, then 68, of aggravated sexual assault of a child younger than 14 following a short trial in 356th District Court before Judge Steve Thomas. He also received a 20-year sentence for indecency with a child by sexual contact and two 10-year sentences for indecency with a child by exposure.
According to prosecutors, Hatton began abusing the victim when she was 6 years old, continuing until she was 11. She reported the abuse at age 13.
Hatton’s death was the third at the prison within a two-day span. Andrew Montana Webster, 26, and Matthew Tyler Wellman, 32, both died April 30. Causes of death are pending autopsy results.
The Gib Lewis Unit, which opened in 1990, is a male facility with a capacity of 2,380 inmates and employs 371 staff members, according to TDCJ.