Jose De Jesus Maldonado Jr sentenced to 198 years for child molestation

Jose De Jesus Maldonado, Jr

ELLIS COUNTY — On Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, Jose De Jesus Maldonado, Jr., 35, of Duncanville, Texas, was sentenced by an Ellis County jury to 99 years in prison for two offenses of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child. The same jury previously convicted Maldonado of the two offenses after a trial in the 40th District court. Judge Bob Carroll ordered the sentences to be stacked, which means they will run consecutively for a total of 198 years.

During the trial, jurors heard testimony that Maldonado began sexually assaulting the female victim when she was only five years old and lasting until she was 10 or 11. The young girl finally had the courage to make an outcry when she was 15 years old. When asked why she waited to tell, she testified that she was scared because the defendant threatened to harm her family.

Dr. William Carter, a psychologist specializing in child sexual abuse, testified that it is common for young victims to wait to tell adults about abuse. He reminded the jury that every time a child has to talk about what happened, they are re-traumatized. That was a point of emphasis for prosecutors during the punishment of the trial.

The jurors deliberated for less than an hour before handing down their sentence. Maldonado will not be eligible for parole on the first sentence for a minimum of 30 years. If he is paroled on the first sentence he will begin serving the second sentence, with the same minimum of 30 years for parole eligibility. He should spend the rest of his life in prison.

"Under the best circumstances child molestation cases are difficult to prosecute. This case was particularly tough. I want to commend Chief Felony prosecutor Amy Lockhart and prosecutor Grace Pandithurai for an outstanding job," Ellis County District Attorney Patrick Wilson said. "Thank you to the jurors who once again demonstrated that Ellis County is serious about protecting our children."