23 Oct Lubbock Man Gets Life Without Parole for Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child

A Lubbock County jury sentenced Jesus Aguilar, 39, to life in prison without parole on Oct. 8, a day after convicting him of continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

District Judge William Eichman said the sentence would make the community, and young girls in particular, safer. Aguilar has been held in the county jail since January 2024. The trial ran four days in the 364th District Court, starting Oct. 5, and the 12 jurors, eight women and four men, heard evidence involving two girls.

The case began in 2022, when Aguilar was arrested for sexual assault of a child after CPS reported the possible abuse of a 15-year-old girl by Aguilar, then 34, to Lubbock police. About three months later he was released after his bond was lowered from $100,000 to $75,000, with a condition that he have no contact with children. The paper reported that he later began living with a woman and her 10-year-old daughter. A school counselor testified that the girl came to her on Nov. 17, 2023, and said he had touched her inappropriately. The first girl, now 21, testified that the relationship started when she was 13.

Defense attorney Matt Morrow argued the physical evidence supported only a lesser count of indecency with a child by sexual contact involving the second girl, and that no physical evidence showed the first girl’s relationship with him started before age 15. A sexual assault nurse examiner testified that her exam turned up no injuries backing the younger girl’s account, but that this is common. Under Texas law, jurors can convict on a witness’s word alone if they find it credible beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors Riley King and Courtney Boyd said the testimony showed a pattern of grooming. King argued Aguilar chose girls who lacked a father figure and acted with “military precision,” and that his Army service should count against him, not for him. Boyd argued the no-contact condition of his bond didn’t stop him.

In the punishment phase, Morrow urged jurors to impose the 25-year minimum, citing Aguilar’s sparse criminal record and military service. Jurors chose life instead.