A woman from Tulsa was sentenced to 15 years in prison this week after pleading guilty to charges of child neglect and enabling child sexual abuse back in September.
Desiree Castaneda, 33, was arrested back in June 2021 just two weeks after a 24-year-old man walked her 12-year-old daughter into a hospital to give birth to their child.
“The family permitted the relationship, and there are photos of the family throwing a baby shower for the victim and the suspect,” said Tulsa police, according to People.
Yet the age of consent in Oklahoma is 16, meaning Juan Miranda-Jara, who dated Castaneda before beginning a relationship with her daughter in October 2020, was arrested that same day at the hospital and charged with first-degree rape of a minor under 14.
He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in jail.
Both Miranda-Jara and Castaneda will be eligible for parole after serving 85% of their sentences and will have to register as sex offenders upon their release.
However, Castaneda also faces separate federal drug charges for allegedly manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine. She has yet to enter a plea.
“The facts of this case are incredibly sad. Children should be able to rely on their parents for protection from people like Juan Miranda-Jara,” said the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office in a statement, according to USA Today.
“For Desiree Castaneda to allow this to happen to her daughter is appalling,” the statement continued. “Both defendants in this case are facing the consequences of their actions and will spend time in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Our hope is the victim in this case will be able to put this awful chapter behind her.”
It is unknown who is caring for the minor victim, now 14, and her child. Her father is currently serving a 12-year sentence after being convicted of first-degree rape in a separate case.
Cases of child sexual abuse involving educators, coaches, and other figures of the community have been rampant across Texas.
For instance, just last week, a Northwest Independent School District assistant principal was arrested by the Fort Worth Police Department on charges of the continuous sexual abuse of a child, as covered in The Dallas Express. Eaton High School principal Stacy Miles told district parents in an email that the alleged victim had not been one of their students.
Similar accusations have been made at North Texas districts this year, such as a high school teacher and a middle school athletics director at Dallas ISD, a special education aide and a school resource officer at Frisco ISD, and a longtime substitute teacher at Arlington ISD.
Overall sexual offense crimes in Dallas have remained high throughout 2023, as there have been 592 cases reported as of October 11, according to the Dallas crime analytics overview dashboard.
