Man gets 55 years in sexual assaults

Neither attorney in the Juan Luis Trevizo child molesting case got what they asked for – life from the prosecution and probation from the defense – during closing arguments.

The jury took a little more than an hour to give Trevizo 55 years in prison for three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and 20 years for one count of indecency with a child. The three sentences of 55 years will run concurrently with the 20 years stacked at the end of that 55 years.

In a previous story, the Odessa American incorrectly reported what Trevizo had pleaded to. He was indicted on an additional count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and seven counts of indecency with a child, but the prosecution did not pursue these counts.

Richard Anderson, the foreman of the jury, said it was a tough decision for jurors to make, but both probation and life sentences were off of the table almost immediately, despite the argument that Trevizo would be deported immediately if given probation or at the end of a prison sentence.

“Even if we allowed him probation, we’d be giving him free reign in Mexico,” Anderson said.

At the same time, he said the jury did not believe the crime was deserving of a life sentence, and if he doesn’t die in prison at his age and with diabetes, he will not be able to hurt anyone else when he’s released.

But that doesn’t mean the jury took the decision lightly.

“It affects not just the defendant, it’s the families,” Anderson said. “Besides just the victims, there are other people in the families affected.”

Defense attorney Adrian Chavez asked the jury to consider probation, citing Trevizo’s medical costs as an unneeded taxpayer expense because he would be deported as a result of his resident alien status.

Luis Chavez, who is Adrian’s brother and also testified during the trial, said based on his federal court experience that if Trevizo was deported and came back into the United States after being deported, he would face stiff federal penalties.

In addition, if Trevizo was given probation and came back into the United States, that would violate the probation.

But Deputy District Attorney Scott Layh remained firm that a life sentence was appropriate in the case, and said even after that his mind was not changed.

“I believe life was appropriate, but this is a good verdict,” he said. “It sends a strong message. The jury took it seriously.”

Trevizo pleaded guilty to molesting his twin stepdaughters for six years between 2000 and 2006 after they moved into his trailer. They were 8 years old at the time the molesting began, and Trevizo impregnated one of them when she was just 13.

She bore the child, a girl, who is now 4 years old.

Layh said it was a smart decision by Chavez from a defensive standpoint to plead guilty before the trial started. Otherwise, DNA evidence that would have stated the obvious would infuriate jurors, he said.

Linda Foster acted as Trevizo’s interpreter for the trial.

@OAcourts