This afternoon, a Bexar County jury in the 399th District Court sentenced Elias Juarez, age 66, to life in prison without the possibility of parole. On Friday, it took jurors less than three hours to convict him of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a young child.
The victim, now 11, testified that Juarez sexually abused her from the age of 3 until she was 8 years old. On the stand, the young girl became overwhelmed with emotion when describing the abuse she endured. The jury also heard from two other victims – now adults – who testified Juarez sexually abused them as well. The abuse from the 11-year-old girl came to light, after one of the additional victims spoke out. The defendant chose not to testify during his trial.
“This life sentence guarantees Mr. Juarez will never victimize another child,” said District Attorney Nico LaHood. “I am proud of our prosecutors for their hard work in presenting the evidence and applaud the jury for giving this child predator the maximum sentence.”
Continuous Sexual Abuse of a young child is a first degree felony, punishable by 25-99 years or life in prison and up to a $10,000.00 fine. Prosecutors Meredith Chacon and Grant Bryan from the Child Abuse Unit handled the case out of the 399th District Court.