Zimmerer found guilty by Cooke County jury

Jun. 14—A Cooke County jury found Joshua Zimmerer, 33, guilty of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child and 4 charges of Sexual Assault of a Child June 3.

Zimmerer sexually assaulted a female family member once when she was in the sixth grade and then on almost a daily basis for three and a half months when she was 14 years old, according to a press release from Denton County prosecutor Michelle Dobson. She and colleague Lauren Marshall prosecuted the case after the Cooke County District Attorney's office recused itself.

Dobson stated that jurors heard the victim describe the abuse she suffered, as well as testimony that Zimmerer confessed his conduct to both his wife and a social worker.

Jurors returned verdicts of five years in prison for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child and 3 years in prison for each charge of Sexual Assault of a Child, to be served concurrently. Zimmerer must serve at least half of his sentence before he will be eligible for parole.

"We are appreciative of the jury's verdict and happy to see that justice was served in these cases," Marshall added.

Zimmerer, a former Callisburg Volunteer Fire Department assistant fire chief, was arrested in May 2019 following his indictment by a Cooke County Grand Jury.

Zimmerer had not been with CVFD for "a while" prior to his arrest, according to Callisburg Volunteer Fire Chief Samuel Stanford.

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