ALPINE, Texas – A federal jury in Pecos, Texas convicted a Monahans man for two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child under 12 and one count of committing a sexual offense while being required to register as a sex offender.
The conviction was announced by U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas via media release.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Michael Scott Nichols, 55, groomed and sexually abused a minor female from around the age of six until she was 11 years old.
The release states on Sept. 23, 2024, the Ward County Sheriff’s Department responded to a home in Monahans, where a woman reported that her daughter had been molested by Nichols.
Nichols is a registered sex offender due to convictions for sexual assault of a child in 1995 and 1997. He was sentenced to 15 years in a Texas State Prison for the 1997 offense.
During this investigation, it was discovered that Nichols, who owned a trucking company, had abused the minor victim in the Western District of Texas and also transported her across state lines and further abused the victim in other states.
Nichols was arrested on April 15, 2025. A third superseding indictment filed in August 2026 charged him with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and one count of penalties for registered sex offenders. A federal jury found Nichols guilty on all three counts on Wednesday, concluding a three-day trial held before U.S. District Judge David Counts.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
