On Tuesday, August 26, a 14-year-old male was adjudicated in the Montgomery County Juvenile Court on two counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child, a first degree felony. The verdict followed eight hours of testimony presented by lead prosecutor Marc Brumberger with the Montgomery County Attorney’s Office. County Attorney J D Lambright explained that an adjudication in the juvenile system is analogous to a conviction in the adult criminal system. Lambright stated, “Marc and my juvenile prosecution staff did a superb job in preparing this case for trial and presenting it to the 12 person jury. We were very pleased when the jury returned a unanimous verdict of “True” on both counts. It is always difficult to present a case that relies heavily on the testimony of a very young victim, like the brave 4-year-old girl, now 5, who was abused in this case. I can’t imagine what it must be like for someone so young to have to talk about these things to 12 strangers, while the perpetrator sits just a few feet away. Our Juvenile Division put in a great effort in presenting the jury with a well-corroborated account of what occurred.”
For the punishment phase of the trial, the attorney for the juvenile elected to go to the judge rather than the jury. Following additional testimony Wednesday morning, the State requested that the juvenile be incarcerated in the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD). Judge Keith Stewart determined that the law applicable to the case prevented him from removing the juvenile from his home, so instead he placed him on probation until age 18. “We had hoped that, if given probation for two first degree felonies committed on a 4 year-old child, the length of the probation would have been significantly longer,” said Lambright. “The perpetrator could have been placed on probation for up to ten years. Given the sentence the judge imposed, he will only be on probation for a little over 3 years since he is nearing 15 now. We strongly urged the court to consider a lengthy disposition based on additional information presented during the hearing, but in the end it is up to the court. We will respect the judge’s ruling.”
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