That’s after a Brazos County district court jury found 45 year old Desiderio Gonzales Jr. of Bryan guilty of sexually abusing three young girls for five years.
The district attorney’s office says all three girls were under the age of ten when the abuse began ten years ago.
Jury members heard from all three victims along with their mothers.
News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office:
Desiderio Gonzales, Jr., 45, was sentenced to Life in prison by Judge Kyle Hawthorne Monday. Gonzales was convicted by a Brazos County jury earlier that same day of the offense of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child.
In August of 2016, three female children reported that Gonzales had sexually abused them over the previous five years.
All three young girls were interviewed at Scotty’s House as part of the investigation by the Bryan Police Department.
During the interviews, each child reported that the defendant began abusing them when they were younger than 10 years old.
Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child is considered an aggravated first degree felony, with a punishment range of 25 years to 99 years or life in prison. The sentence is required to be served straight, meaning there is no possibility of parole.
The jury trial in this case began on October 11, 2021. The jury heard testimony for the remainder of the week, including testimony from each of the victims as well as the mothers of each victim.
Closing arguments were held on Monday, October 18. The jury deliberated for just over three hours before reaching their guilty verdict.
Following the verdict, Judge Hawthorne sentenced Gonzales to life in prison following a punishment hearing.