Woman who wore Trump MAGA hat at wedding charged with child sexual abuse

A woman who wore a red MAGA cap on her wedding day has reportedly been arrested and charged with child sexual abuse.

Warning: This article contains details relating to child sexual abuse, reader discretion is advised.

According to local news reports, 30-year-old Texan substitute teacher Madison Paige Jones was taken into custody on 19 December and charged with aggravated sexual assault with a child, possession of child pornography, and indecency with a child.

Midlothian police began investigating a possible sexual assault involving a child on 17 December after receiving an anonymous report over the phone.

The initial investigation led to Jones’ arrest, as well as the arrest of 37-year-old Zackery Dondlinger, who was taken into custody on Tuesday (23 December) and charged with sexual performance by a child.

Local outlet Fox4 confirmed Jones had previously worked for Midlothian ISD, a public school district, as a substitute teacher in several of its local schools, including Heritage High School and Baxter Elementary School.

A spokesperson for the district said she had only worked four days in the past year, between October and November, adding that there was no indication the charges related to her time working at a Midlothian ISD campus.

“Our district process for monitoring employee criminal history functioned as intended, and we were notified quickly by the DPS,” they told CBS News. “The substitute teacher is no longer employed by MISD and the district followed its required reporting procedures with the Texas Education Agency.”

Police confirmed there is no connection between Jones’ job as a substitute teacher and the charges against her.

Child sexual abuse suspect wore MAGA hat during wedding

Immediately following her arrest, anti-right-wing extremism group PatriotTakes shared images of Madison Paige Jones that appear to show her wearing a red “MAGA” cap on her wedding night.

The image, downloaded from her since-deleted Facebook page, depicts Jones in her wedding dress, during what appears to be her wedding reception, wearing a red cap with the word “Trump” on the front.

MAGA hats are an infamous piece of right-wing paraphernalia associated with supporters of US president Donald Trump. First used during his 2016 campaign, they are most commonly bright red with the words “Make America Great Again” emblazoned on the front in white letters, but can come in different colours or styles.

While the photo suggests she is a Trump supporter in some capacity, Jones’ political affiliations are not explicitly known, nor have investigating officers cited her political leaning in statements on the case.

Last month, a report from journalist Evan Hurst detailed at least 188 convictions, arrests, or accusations of child abuse over the past year.

Hurst, who regularly updates a list of cases against Republican or right-wing figures, said he had found 50 new accusations in October alone.

Just days after he shared his latest update, Californian youth pastor Joshua David Kemper, who previously shared AI-generated anti-LGBTQ+ content online, was arrested on child sexual abuse charges.

Kemper, who previously suggested LGBTQ+ people were a danger to youngsters, was taken into custody over accusations that he sexually abused a 15-year-old girl between March and July this year.