Former nonprofit employee who helped foster children arrested on child endangerment charges

Share Add Us On Google Add as a preferred source on Google WACO, Texas ( KWTX /Gray News) — An employee of a nonprofit group that helps abused and neglected foster children navigate the court system was arrested Wednesday with his wife after authorities searched their Texas home and found the conditions in which they and their two children were living. John Moorman, 51, director of advocacy at CASA of McLennan County, and his wife, 48-year-old Leslie Moorman, were expected to be released Thursday from the county jail on $5,000 bonds each. Both were arrested on state felony charges of endangering a child. Employment status John Moorman, a former Child Protective Services worker, was placed on administrative leave Wednesday from his job, said CASA Executive Director Ashlee Knutson. “Moorman is no longer employed by CASA of McLennan County,” Knutson said Thursday. CASA, or Court-Appointed Special Advocates, recruits, trains and supports volunteers who assist children in the foster care system. Knutson said the arrests of John Moorman and his wife had nothing to do with his role as a CASA staff member. “Anyone who serves a CASA program goes through a comprehensive, multi-layered background screening process – whether they are a staff member, volunteer, or board member,” Knutson said in a statement. “The process includes FBI fingerprinting as well as child protective services, national sex offender registry, and criminal background checks. Because these background checks are fingerprint-based and given the responsibility CASA programs hold, ongoing monitoring continues once someone begins serving in any of these roles.” Search warrant at China Spring home According to arrest affidavits, Waco police investigators served a search warrant Wednesday at the Moormans’ home in the 10000 block of Barton Creek Drive in China Spring. Authorities had received a “CyberTip concerning child sexual abuse material,” the affidavits state. During the execution of the search warrant, officers “immediately noticed a foul odor commonly associated with human or animal excrement, such as feces and urine,” the affidavit states. The detective wrote that while going through the home, investigators found trash, food, feces, soiled diapers and other materials ‘throughout the entire residence in a way that made it impossible to walk through without stepping on it." The affidavit alleges that while there was food in the refrigerator, the kitchen was not in a state in which anything could be cooked and “there were bugs throughout the residence.” The affidavit also alleges there was a rat’s nest in the kitchen and officers saw rodents in a child’s room. “In the (detective’s) training and experience, the state of the residence presents a clear and present danger to the welfare of the children,” according to the affidavit. Children placed with family Child Protective Services workers took custody of a 15-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl and placed them with other family members, said Cierra Shipley, Waco police spokesperson. Investigators also seized “technology” from the Moormans’ home as the investigation continues, Shipley said. Copyright 2026 KWTX via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.