Marshals arrest Pilot Point mayor

Uniformed officers from several agencies provided support to plainclothes U.S. Marshals as the latter searched Mayor Matt McIlravy’s residence following his arrest at City Hall on Tuesday.

By Abigail Allen

Managing Editor

U.S. Marshals arrested Pilot Point Mayor Matt McIlravy on Tuesday at City Hall on the charge of soliciting a minor online.

A large contingent of law enforcement agencies, coordinated by the Dallas Police Department, searched McIlravy’s home for evidence.

“The Dallas Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, Texas Department of Public Safety, Collin County District Attorney’s office, DPD Drone Unit and North Central CRT, arrested Matthew McIlravy, 42, on the charge of online solicitation of a minor under the age of 14, a 2nd-degree felony,” DPD said in a release.

It also indicated DPD ICAC Unit had been investigating McIlravy for five months.

“This ongoing investigation revealed other communications with minors who have not been identified at this time,” the release reads. “If anyone has any information regarding this case, contact Detective Michael Fontenot at 214-671-4281 or Michael.fontenot@dallascityhall.com.”

J.D. Miles of CBSDFW tweeted on Wednesday that McIlravy’s arrest warrant provided more detail.

“It says he exchanged online messages from Feb through June with an undercover DPD officer who McIlravy thought was a 12yo girl,” Miles’ tweet reads. “Warrant says he wanted to engage in ‘deviant sexual intercourse.’”

MCILRAVY

He was booked into the Dallas County Jail at 3:57 p.m. Tuesday. He stood before Judge Kathleen Sprinkle, who set his bond amount at $25,000 Wednesday morning and posted bond Wednesday evening, according to the Dallas County Jail record.

McIlravy was sworn in as mayor May 12. He had been a member of the City Council since 2019, and he served as mayor pro tem in advance of winning the mayoral election.

The city of Pilot Point has scrubbed McIlravy’s information from the page regarding the city’s mayor, and the city officials are consulting with the city attorney regarding how to handle the situation.

In the city’s charter, a sitting elected official must resign if they are found guilty of a crime.

“The city’s government is designed to be flexible and resilient,” City Manager Britt Lusk said in a statement. “The city will follow applicable state law and the city’s charter to fill any vacancies.”

Current Mayor Pro Tem Chad Major will preside over the meetings in McIlravy’s absence.

“The mayor pro-tem is an elected member of the council and appointed by his fellow council members to serve in that capacity,” Lusk wrote. “Beyond that, as a home-rule municipality, the City Manager oversees personnel and operations.”

Officers from multiple agencies, including Pilot Point Police Chief Rex Marks, were gathered outside Mayor Matt McIlravy’s residence following his arrest at City Hall on Tuesday.

McIlravy had been scheduled to speak at the PointBank Business Breakfast on Wednesday morning; Lusk stepped into the speaker role following McIlravy’s arrest.

Lusk repeated the statement given to the Post-Signal at the PointBank Breakfast which sat numerous local business owners and members of the community.

McIlravy was an active member of Midway Church, where he served as a life group leader. As of Wednesday, he had been removed from the list of group leaders on midwaychurch.org.

Dallas PD did not return a call for comment.