La Salle medical director faces child porn felony charge

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ROTH HAD IMAGE OF YOUNG GIRL BEING ABUSED, INVESTIGATORS SAY

A pre-trial hearing has been scheduled in San Antonio for Tuesday, December 27, to present a case against La Salle County Medical Director Gregory Roth, who has been charged with being in possession of child pornography.

Dr. Roth, 65, was taken into custody at the Bexar County Jail in San Antonio on Wednesday, November 30, on a third-degree felony charge for which a warrant had earlier been issued.

The complaint against Roth dates to April 2, 2021. Investigators from the Texas Attorney General’s Office Child Exploitation Unit reportedly determined in a lengthy investigation that Roth had uploaded an image of a female child  “between the ages of six and eight being sexually assaulted by a man.” The image, according to a report on the case, had been loaded onto an internet file hosting site and had been red-flagged as offensive, criminal and indicative of child sex exploitation.

Roth’s use of the image was reportedly traced to an internet access address at his home.   

The Bexar County District Clerk’s Office confirmed last week that Roth’s case is set to go before a grand jury and that an indictment against him has yet to be handed down. The defendant was released from jail Thursday, Dec. 1, on a $100,000 bond. The medical director’s employment with La Salle County was terminated last week. 

Roth is being represented by defense attorneys Karl Alexander of San Antonio and Daniel James Vela.

The La Salle County Fire Rescue issued a public statement via social media after Roth’s arrest last week.

“We are astonished and deeply saddened at these serious criminal charges,” the Dec. 1 statement read, although only a single charge has been filed against the doctor. “We want to assure the public that at no time did Dr. Gregory Roth have any direct contact with any patients while serving as medical director.”

The service also noted that it is cooperating fully with the district attorney’s office regarding the investigation.

“Effective immediately, Dr. Gregory Roth is no longer serving in any capacity for La Salle County,” the emergency responder service added. “We want to assure the public that this in no way will hinder the effect of emergency services to the citizens of La Salle County.”

Dr. Roth had been summoned by county commissioners at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 to direct policy and oversee health and safety protocols related to preventing the spread of the potentially deadly virus through the county’s civilian population and among its government employees, notably first responders. Roth’s directives and collaboration between the county commissioners’ court and the La Salle Fire Rescue helped ensure compliance with lockdown orders, limit public gathering and impose strict guidelines regarding safety measures. 

La Salle County Judge Joel Rodriguez, who advocated for Roth’s position and counsel to the court during the pandemic, said last week that he believes the medical director’s work helped save the lives of many county residents. Roth had been employed with La Salle County since the county’s fire brigade and ambulance service was founded eight years ago, the judge said.

“We can’t be lenient in a situation like this,” Judge Rodriguez said in a telephone interview Dec. 2. “We are strong supporters of children’s advocacy in La Salle County, and we stand for children’s rights and protection, and for the neglected and abused victims of violence and predatory behavior.

“I am deeply shocked at the revelation,” the county judge said of the case against Roth. “His medical knowledge is great, and he provided invaluable service to the people of La Salle County when we were in a critical position with the threat of the virus. Then something like this comes along and just shocks you to the core. We are very disappointed in this development.” 

Texas Penal Code Section 43.26 states that a person commits a third-degree felony offense if he or she knowingly or intentionally possesses, or accesses with intent to view, visual material that depicts a child younger than 18 years of age who is engaging in sexual conduct.

Visual material, as described under the code, includes any film, photograph, video tape, negative, or slide or any photographic reproduction; or any disk or other physical medium that allows an image to be displayed on a computer or other video screen, and any image transmitted to a computer or other video screen by telephone line, cable, satellite transmission, or other method.

A drunk-driving case against the defendant dates to February 25, 2001, according to Bexar County records. Roth is shown as having been fined $500 plus $280.25 in court costs on July 31 that year and was sentenced to a term of probation that ended in 2002.