Six life sentences

Barring a successful appeal, Juan Jose Ponce will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

An Ector County jury sentenced the 40-year-old Odessan to six life sentences Monday - three of which will be served consecutively - on six charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

"Seeing that he's 40 years old right now, he'd have to be the oldest person on this planet to be eligible for parole," Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland said, noting that Ponce will have to serve 90 years to be eligible for parole.

"This, once again, sends the message that Ector County juries won't tolerate these kinds of crimes against children," Bland said, adding that assistant district attorney Scott Layh tried the case.

Judge Stacy Trotter ordered that three of the sentences be served one after the other and the other three sentences will be served concurrently with the last one. The jury also fined Ponce $10,000 on one charge and $5,000 each on the other five charges.

Efforts to reach Ponce's attorney, Gerald Lopez, were not successful.

Bland said Ponce was convicted of six counts of molesting the same child over the course of seven years. The girl was younger than 14 when the assaults started, he said.

"When he was first questioned, he actually ran to Mexico," Bland said. "The mother of the victim convinced him to come back and the border patrol and the Odessa Police Department worked together to capture him so he could pay for what he did - and now he will pay for the rest of his life."