A Texas teacher has been sentenced to 100 years in prison for sexually abusing his young stepdaughter for four years.
Aaron Marshall, 39, formerly an assistant girls’ volleyball coach at Hughes Springs ISD, was found guilty last week of nine felonies, including continuous sexual abuse of a child, two counts of sexual assault of a child, and six counts of indecency with a child by contact, according to Texas Scorecard. The victim was Marshall’s stepdaughter, who told the jury she was sexually abused from the ages of 12 to 16.
The abuse included “inappropriate touching, fondling and digital penetration.” The jury asked the judge to sentence Mashall to 50 years for continuous sexual abuse, plus 10 years for each sexual assault count and five years for each indecency count.
The judge decided Marshall would serve concurrent sentences totaling 100 years.
Marshall’s teaching certificate is still valid but is under review, according to the State Board for Educator Certification. Texas Occupations Code requires that if an individual is imprisoned for a felony offense, his certification must be revoked.
During court proceedings, testimony was heard from Marshall’s wife, the lead investigator, and a child forensic interviewer, according to KETK.
The child’s mother stated that she suspected something was wrong in 2019 after catching Marshall leaving her daughter’s room late at night. Marshall initially denied his wife’s claims but later, during the investigation of the abuse, allegedly disclosed to his now ex-wife that he had touched his stepdaughter, according to KETK.
“The Cass County District Attorney’s Office is extremely grateful to the jury for delivering justice to the victim and making sure that Marshall is never able to harm another child. We would also like to recognize the contributions of the Linden Texas police department, Texas Attorney General Investigator Cody Sartor and forensic interviewer Maureen Fletcher from the Texarkana Children’s Advocacy Center. Their cooperation and dedication were vital to seeking justice for the victim in this case,” wrote the District Attorney’s Office, per KTAL.
Sexual offenses such as those committed by Marshall torment Dallas as well. The city has seen 433 counts of sex crimes, including fondling, sexual assault, rape, and sodomy, this year, according to police data updated on August 5.
Complicating efforts to combat and investigate these crimes is a severe shortage of police officers. An analysis determined that a city the size of Dallas needs roughly 4,000 police officers, but the Dallas Police Department currently only employs 3,100.