Kaufman County, TX - District Attorney Erleigh Norville Wiley announced this week that a Kaufman County jury has found ANDY GONZALEZ, 33, guilty of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child Younger than 14. Mr. Gonzalez was sentenced to 65 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
After a two-and-a-half-day trial before Honorable Judge Casey Blair in the 86th District Court of Kaufman County, a jury found Gonzalez guilty after little more than an hour of deliberations. At trial, the jury heard evidence that Gonzalez had sexually abused a family member for more than a year and a half. Gonzalez’s victim, now 12 years old, testified to abuse taking place at a home in Kaufman, as well as outside the city limits, and that the defendant would regularly treat her to special time one on one. Her mother testified that since the abuse, she has “never been the same little girl.”
In closings, the State is quoted as saying, “When it comes to sexual abuse of a child there is no in-between. The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
After being found guilty by a jury, Gonzalez elected to have his punishment assessed by the Court. Judge Blair, having considered the presentence investigation and the DA’s office recommendation as to punishment, sentenced Gonzalez to 65 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division. The offense of Continuous Sexual Abuse of A Child Younger than 14 has no parole.
The prosecution was led by Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Ashley Holman and Taylor McConnell, Crimes Against Children Investigator Brandi Dial and paralegal Amanda Morris. The criminal investigation was lead by Investigator Randy Griffin, with the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office, as well as members of the the Kaufman County Children’s Advocacy Center.
District Attorney Wiley commented, “the message sent by this verdict is clear; Kaufman County has no tolerance for crimes committed against our children.”
DA's Office Contact:
Michelle Stambaugh
michelles@kaufmancounty.net
Read the news release HERE: