Posted 11:12 am Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Man Gets Life For Sexual Assault Of First-Grader
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer
A Smith County jury found a Tyler man guilty on Tuesday of aggravated sexual assault of a child and gave him a life sentence in state prison.
Staff Writer
A Smith County jury found a Tyler man guilty on Tuesday of aggravated sexual assault of a child and gave him a life sentence in state prison.
Efrain Contreras, 40, will have to serve 30 years before he is eligible for parole, said Smith County Assistant District Attorney Joe Murphy, who prosecuted the case in the Smith County 241st District Court, with Judge Jack Skeen Jr. presiding. Contreras also was assessed a $10,000 fine.
Contreras sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl in May 2009 during the time he stayed at the home of her mother, a prostitute who brought paying clients into the same bedroom where her children slept. The mother was present during the time Contreras raped the child and did nothing to stop it from happening, Murphy said.
Murphy gave opening statements to the jury in which he said that the child's mother was not exactly a candidate for "mother of the year." He described the assaults, which happened on May 28, the last day of school.
On that day, the crime was discovered at the home when a loan collector came to the house for a payment and observed Contreras engaging in inappropriate conduct toward the child. The child immediately jumped off the couch, and said, "No," after which the loan collector called Tyler police.
The pony-tailed first-grader, who said math is her favorite subject, testified about the defendant's inappropriate conduct toward her.
Tyler Police Detective Michelle Brock, who works for the department's Crimes Against Children unit, was the lead investigator in the case. Detective Brock testified that both the girl and her sister, older by a few years, sounded like young women and were too "sexualized" for their age.
Detective Brock said the child described the defendant as "Chucky," the evil doll from the 1988 movie "Child's Play," saying it was "Chucky" who had assaulted her. Detective Brock said it is consistent for children who have been victimized to call the perpetrator of the crime by another name.
During his closing statement in the punishment phase, Murphy told the jury to "finish this."
"Ask yourself, what type of person would find a 6-year-old first-grader sexually attractive?"
He told the jury to give Contreras, "a sexual predator," the punishment he deserved, and not to give him the opportunity to commit such a crime ever again.
"He gave her a life sentence when she was in kindergarten, and she deserves the right to know she will not run into him in the community."
Attorney Zachary Davis represented Contreras.
