A Wylie resident was sentenced to decades in prison after a jury convicted him of the sexual abuse of a minor, the Collin County District Attorney’s office announced Wednesday.
A court in Collin County convicted 28-year-old Jose Rodriguez-Aguirre for continuous sexual abuse of an 11-year-old child. He was sentenced to 65 years in prison without parole.
By law, parole is not offered to people convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child.
Rodriguez-Aguirre repeatedly abused the victim for over a year. The child’s doctor determined she was pregnant at an annual physical checkup.
When it was discovered that she was pregnant, the child told a family member about the abuse, who then reported it to the police and Child Protective Services.
The victim was “forensically interviewed” at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County, where she detailed the abuse to the police.
The University of North Texas Center for Human Identification in Fort Worth tested the man’s DNA and determined there was a “strong likelihood” that Rodriguez-Aguirre fathered the victim’s child.
Rodriguez-Aguirre was prosecuted by Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis before Judge Carmen Rivera-Worley and a jury.
The young girl who was victimized testified against Rodriguez-Aguirre in the case. Willis expressed admiration for the child’s strength after she testified at the trial.
“I’m amazed at the courage of this child, who mustered the strength to testify against her abuser.”
Rodriguez-Aguirre will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. However, his victim may also suffer from the physical and psychological impacts of his abuse for many years.
The victim’s child was adopted by a couple in Belize, according to reporting by KRLD News Radio.
Eradicate Child Abuse Texas states, “Children victimized by sexual abuse are 30% more likely than non-abused peers to develop serious medical conditions in adulthood, including diabetes, cancer, heart problems, stroke, and hypertension.”
The City of Dallas has suffered a significant uptick in rape cases year-to-date in 2023.
According to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard, 92 rapes have been reported in Dallas so far this year, representing a year-over-year increase of 12.2% amid an overall upward trend of violent crime in Dallas.
The actual figure may be much higher, as the Eradicate Child Abuse Texas website states that 60% of sexual abuse victims never tell anyone about the abuse.
