A Miniature Train Enthusiast Was Accused Of Molesting 12 Children. Then He Was Beaten To Death In Jail.

Clinton Don Simpson, a miniature train enthusiast jailed for allegedly molesting a dozen children, was killed by a fellow prisoner this week.

Simpson, 76, was facing several charges related to the molestation of children and being held in Texas’ Tarrant County Jail when David Faustino Flores, 42, allegedly assaulted him at around 2:20 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the Star-Telegram. Simpson died at John Peter Smith Hospital an hour later from blunt force injuries he’d sustained to the head, and his death has been ruled a homicide, the outlet reports. Flores, who had been taken into custody in October on a charge of injuring an elderly person, was arraigned on a murder charge on Wednesday, according to the Star-Telegram. The outlet reports that a judge has set Flores’ bond at $50,000.

Simpson, a former preacher, was known in his community as the owner of “Mr. Don’s Whistle Stop,” according to the Dallas News. Simpson owned and operated a miniature train on a track that spawned the two acres of land making up his property in Keller, Texas. Police launched an investigation into Simpson’s activities in 2007 after a young girl’s parents reported that he’d molested their toddler daughter during a train ride, the outlet reports. Simpson would go on to be accused of molesting a dozen children, but an ongoing legal battle regarding Simpson’s competency to stand trial delayed the case’s progress, with Simpson bouncing in and out of state hospitals. He had recently been declared fit to stand trial and was transferred to the Tarrant County Jail, the Star-Telegram reports.

Simpson had been held in the Tarrant County Jail since July, where he was expected to undergo another independent evaluation in response to his attorney’s continued claims that he was still not fit for trial, according to the Star-Telegram.

[Photo: Associated Press]