A Tulia man has been sentenced to 30 years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Corrections for child sexual abuse violations in Swisher County, Texas.
James Mark Bishop, 52, pleaded guilty on August 28, 2024, to two charges of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child and Sexual Performance of a Child. He was sentenced to 30 years in state prison by the Honorable Kregg Hukill for the 242nd District Court in Swisher County, Texas.
Bishop was charged with sexually abusing his then 12-year-old niece in 2018. A convicted sex offender out of Oklahoma, Bishop was living in Tulia, Texas and working as a truck driver while abusing his family member and soliciting child pornography. During the investigation, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) learned that Bishop was still facing prison time for his original sentence in Oklahoma for Knowingly Downloading Child Pornography. This provided the basis for revoking his parole in Oklahoma.
Shortly before Bishop could be revoked in Oklahoma, he fled Texas. After almost a year as a fugitive listed on Texas Most Wanted, he was captured in Oregon by the U.S. Marshals Task Force and brought back to Texas in 2022 through a joint effort by federal law enforcement and the OAG. His parole was subsequently revoked in Oklahoma where he received a 33-year prison sentence. Additionally, Bishop was sentenced to 10 years in federal penitentiary for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender in late 2022.
The case was investigated by Sgt. Brian Seales from the Texas Attorney General’s Office and by the Tulia Police Department. Assistant Attorney General Brenda Cantu prosecuted the case with assistance from Swisher County Attorney Amy McAtee.