BREAKING: HARRIS COUNTY, TX—In a shocking private meeting, Jacquelyn Aluotto, a whistleblower involved in a lawsuit against Harris County, shared grave allegations against James “Bishop” Dixon, the pastor of a prominent Houston church. 

The meeting, which took place on Oct. 3, 2023, at the home of Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, has raised serious concerns about sexual misconduct, intimidation and the manipulation of vulnerable individuals—including a sex trafficking survivor and a female figurehead in the Texas GOP.

Commissioner Rodney Ellis

The Leaked Tape: A Window into Sexual Misconduct and Suicide Threats

The meeting was secretly recorded by Candice Matthews, president of the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats and National Minister of Politics for the New Black Panther Party, who later shared the audio via email with associates Quanell X and James Dunn Jr., a convicted felon who pleaded guilty to defrauding the Department of Education out of $300 thousand and served three years in prison for his crime.

The tape revealed not only the disturbing allegations against Dixon but also the atmosphere of intimidation surrounding Aluotto. 

Candice Matthews

In the tape, Aluotto, a human trafficking advocate, detailed her years-long friendship with Dixon, whom she met when his church, The Community of Faith Church, was on the brink of failure.

“When I met Bishop, his church was dying. He was losing all of his credibility. I put all of my credibility into him, because I really believed in him,” Aluotto said. 

The two forged a close friendship, and over time, Aluotto began to introduce Dixon to local political figureheads from both sides of the political fence, whom she worked with to draft and pass anti-sex trafficking legislation, Aluotto alleged in the meeting.

“This is how a lot of this started. I brought some women to the church, one from the governor’s office in the state.. And it was going fine until he decided to have sex with one of them and then never call her again. And then, this became a pattern,” Aluotto said.

“These different women [whom] I was bringing to the church to do God’s work for God’s purpose… I’m thinking we’re [fighting against] child sex trafficking and building out all these initiatives… I was bringing these people to the church, and one by one, these women would come to me so upset.”

LISTEN TO THE RECORDING BELOW

These women, Aluotto asserts, each confided in her that they felt betrayed and hurt by Dixon.

“I would say, ‘What’s wrong,’ and they would say, ‘I don’t know what happened. You said that we could trust him, that he was such a great guy, and he pursued [me], and he was so sweet… and kind… and then, he had sex with [me], and he never called [me] again,’” Aluotto recalled.

Matthews asked Aluotto the race of the women who came to her with these allegations.

“White and black… Two of them were white. One of them was from the district attorney’s office, so [Dixon] created a mess for me when they were like, ‘Jacquelyn, you have to choose. We don’t want to work with this man… he has patterns.’”

In light of multiple complaints, Aluotto claims that she confronted Dixon, who promptly denied having sex with the women. She then insisted that she knew the accusations were true, because the women had shown her text message exchanges between themselves and Dixon.

“Two other black women [in positions of power] whom I’m very close with came to me like, ‘Hey, can we talk to you about Bishop Dixon?’” Aluotto detailed. 

One of the black women is married, so she won’t go public with her complaint, Aluotto said. Upon prompting from Matthews, Aluotto refused to name any of the women.

“I know he’s a single male, and I’m sure that women throw themselves on him at the church, but [he is] a pastor and a bishop. [He] cannot be counseling women about God, and then having sex with them, and being so messy. [He’s] going to be 61 years old,” Aluotto said.

“[One woman] is at NRG, that’s a whole different group of powerful women there to make a mess of. The NAACP… I took those women to the church, and the first two, one from the state and [one from] the DA’s office, and within a month, he had already been inappropriate with both of them. I’m not saying that he forced them, I’m not saying that there wasn’t mutual text message exchanges, but I’m just saying that you’re a bishop, you can’t be saying… that stuff in writing, and if you are going to be doing that stuff with women, do it the right way.”

Further, Aluotto said that she believes the testimonies of the women who confided in her were only a fraction of a larger and emergent pattern in Dixon’s life.

“I have a feeling that there’s a lot of women. He has a pattern… with taking women out… It’s this pattern of ‘Let’s go out to lunch and talk about your projects,’ and then it’s, ‘I’m going to hold your hand a little longer and I’m going to hug you a little longer,’ and dinners, and it’s going to escalate,” she described. “It’s this pattern that has happened more and more and more.”

After Aluotto confronted Dixon about the claims, the bishop rapidly began to spiral out of control.

On her phone, Aluotto claims to have pictures of Dixon “holding guns to his head” and FaceTime recordings of him “saying that he’s going to kill himself… him screaming and kind of losing it.”

Then, in 2022, Aluotto visited The Community of Faith Church and informed staff, including a pastor, of her concerns for Dixon’s mental wellbeing. The pastor asked her to “keep [her] mouth shut [and] suck it up,” and professed that they would “get him help,” she said.

However, the church never got Dixon help, and he continued to regularly threaten suicide. Aluotto eventually informed Dixon’s sister, Tanya, and his daughter, Victoria, and she sent them screenshots each time he would threaten suicide. 

 

“[Tanya and Victoria] would find him, and he would be fine, as if nothing happened,” Aluotto recalled. “It [didn’t get] better, so I texted… Bishop’s dad, ‘I can’t do this anymore. I’m so sorry… I can’t help the situation… I feel like [Bishop] just needs to keep away from me until he gets help.’”

“And I love Bishop… I love this man. He is my best friend, and I don’t wish him harm. Please understand that. I know that he has done some great things, and he is a great person… I feel so guilty for all the good people [who] have gotten hurt because of my case,” she tearfully told Matthews and Ellis.

Whistleblower Faces Bold Intimidation Tactics and Threats of Retaliation

Following this conversation, Dixon’s mood shifted “erratically,” Aluotto described. 

“He went from begging me to be quiet and for me to meet him to then… Bishop’s lawyer calls me,” she continued. “That’s where that loyalty died. I’m not loyal to people because they can do anything to me. I’m loyal to people because I love people and they’re my friends.”

In exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), Dixon’s lawyer, Leticia Quinones-Hollins, offered Aluotto a payoff under the guise of paying for her therapy sessions and anything else she needed.

Aluotto declined the offer, neither accepting his money nor signing the NDA, she said. Then, the lawyer mentioned Aluotto’s ongoing divorce and her 10-year-old daughter.

“So was the implication, somehow, that she was trying to impact your custody?” Matthews asked Aluotto.

“Yeah… I said to her, ‘Shut the fuck up. Don’t ever fucking bring up my daughter. Everything that he put me through, and I’m keeping my mouth shut. Don’t come at me like that. Not at my child,’” Aluotto recalled.

Aluotto’s remarks illustrate the fear she feels not just for herself, but also for her child, whom she asserts should remain “off limits.” This plea underscores the severity of the pressure she’s under, suggesting that those aligned with Dixon may be using her personal life against her in an attempt to silence her.

She cited instances of Dixon’s lawyer stalking her social media accounts and LinkedIn page in what she assumed to be an attempt to “get dirt” on her.

“I recorded the conversation with the lawyer… I told her, ‘You need to go talk to your client, because you want my lawyers to say this stuff about Bishop, and then they’re going to dig, and they work with Wayne Deltrafino, who works closely with the GOP, and it’s political. I know a lot of things… Once I do that, I can’t go back… [But] this is what [Bishop] is choosing,’” Aluotto quoted.

“She said, ‘That’s fine, I welcome that.’ I said, ‘…Do you want to sit down with Cordt Akers, the attorney on the case? Do you understand that those people hate Commissioner Ellis, Commissioner Garcia? Do you understand what all this information and different things will do to this political climate?’”

A Call for Accountability

Throughout the conversation, Aluotto insisted that she is not seeking personal gain; rather, she seeks integrity and accountability from Dixon. 

“He’s got to be a grown-up, put his big boy pants on, handle this situation, have some accountability and have a conversation,” she stated. “I don’t want any money, I could care less about any of that. I want integrity.”

The Aftermath

As the story unfolds, the implications for both Harris County and the broader Houston community are profound. This case serves as a reminder of the critical need for transparency, accountability, and a commitment to safeguarding the rights of individuals, especially those who bravely come forward with allegations of misconduct.

“I’ve always operated with integrity. The reason why I came to you is because I switched out my lawyers… because they were riding me so hard trying to get information about you, the congresswoman and different people. We were constantly butting heads and fighting. I got a female lawyer to work with them and I separated my case… we were constantly fighting over who I would be in press conferences with and align with. My lawyer represents … Crimestoppers and all of them.

“Even the woman that I’m trying to get … to do thing for the congresswoman… they called and said that Crimestoppers had called and said about you trying to take the district attorney down, and I was like, ‘Those people have been always good to me, and I love the congresswoman, so I’m not getting involved in any of that. 

“It was really important to me to separate myself from my  legal team. I bring this up because when the lawyer called me, she put in a text message… I have to get my phone to show you… I know I told her… I basically told her to go fuck herself, excuse my language, I was not happy… and [I told her] not to ever call me again. She texted me the next day and said, ‘I know your lawyer [name] very well.’”

“And I said, ‘Are you out of your mind? Has he lost his mind? Once I get my lawyers involved, if they know that there’s a rift between him and I… I know what’s going to happen.’ She said she felt it was going to be amicable. That’s not amicable. Two best friends that have a big difference about things that he’s said and done and severe mistakes that he’s made. He’s got to be a grown-up, put his big boy pants on, handle this situation, have some accountability and have a conversation.  

“She said, ‘I’ll let [my client] know your intentions.

“I said to her, ‘I don’t have any intentions. My intention is that him and I are going to resolve this. We’re going to have to sit down like two adults who founded an organization together and he’s going to take some accountability. I’m not going to sign any papers, I don’t want any money, I could care less about any of that. I want integrity. 

“When she said she’ll let [them] know my intentions… she’s an idiot and clearly he doesn’t get what I’m going to sit down and tell all these people that are then going to use it for elections and things. I know how this works.

“What I did tell my lawyer, who’s a female and she’s separate, I said ‘Jackie, I need for you to write a letter to this woman Leticia Quinones-Hollins. I know she knows you… I need you to tell her to stop contacting me.