Texas Mom, 46, Smiled in Mugshot After Molesting Son’s 13-Year-Old Friend. Now She’s Going to Prison

• Natalie Sorrells, 46, was sentenced to five years in prison after a jury found her guilty of two counts of indecent sexual contact with a minor
• She allegedly molested her son’s 13-year-old friend multiple times, including at a party for her son and while driving the boy home after a football game, according to an arrest affidavit
• Jurors acquitted Sorrells on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, which could have carried a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison

A youth ministry volunteer in Texas who smiled for her mugshot after being arrested for molesting her son’s then-13-year-old friend is now a convict.

Natalie Sorrells, 46, was sentenced to five years in prison after jurors found her guilty on two counts of indecent sexual contact with a minor.

The victim in the case told police that Sorrells molested him on multiple occasions, including once in her car after a football game.

She also molested the victim at a party he attended for her son, according to a copy of an arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.

Sorrells volunteered with students in the youth ministry at Lakepointe Church while also working as a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker Apex prior to her arrest

The affidavit says that Sorrells began having sexual contact with the minor in April 2023.

That sexual contact continued for over a year, until the victim’s mother discovered deleted text messages that Sorrells sent to her son, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit says that the victim resisted telling his mother about Sorrells’ behavior at first.

An investigation was launched, however, after the victim’s mother contacted law enforcement, and eventually the victim told both his mother and members of the Heath Department of Public Safety that Sorrells had been molesting him for more than a year.

The Rockwall County Criminal District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Sorrells in September 2024, but jail records show that she was not taken into custody by the Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office until February 2025.

Sorrells was released after posting $100,000 bond, but is back in custody again following her conviction as she waits for her prison assignment.

The judge sentenced Sorrells to 30 months for each count, which she will serve consecutively, according to court records.

Jurors also acquitted Sorrells on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

If convicted on either of those counts, Sorrells could have faced a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison because the victim was under the age of 14 and she was accused of supplying the minor with alcohol, which would qualify under Texas penal code as a “substance capable of impairing the victim’s ability to appraise the nature of the act or to resist the act.”

Despite her sentencing, a request for a protective order was filed against Sorrells by an individual using the pseudonym Arthur Stevens two days after her conviction.

A hearing on that order is scheduled for May 22.

The church where Sorrells volunteered also released a statement after her arrest, saying: “While it is our current understanding that no inappropriate activity occurred on church premises, at any church event, and that the minor involved was not under the direct leadership of the volunteer, out of an abundance of caution we immediately informed Lakepointe parents, restricted the volunteer from any access to minors at the church and removed her from her volunteer position.”

A lawyer for Sorrells did not respond to a request for comment.