Jurors sentenced Francisco Salazar of Magnolia to 40 years in prison on Aug. 1 for the continuous sexual abuse of his stepdaughter.

Salazar was accused of continuous sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child and sexual assault of a child for allegations involving the sexual assault of his stepdaughter from the ages of 12 to 15, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Chief Prosecutor for the Child Abuse Division Nancy Hebert said the stepdaughter made an outcry at the age of 15. Since that time it has taken nearly two years for the case to make it to trial.

Hebert said the child gave a live testimony to jurors and in the presence of Salazar.

There was no forensic, medical or video evidence, simply the stepdaughter’s testimony, according to Hebert. She added that the child’s information and allegations were consistent from her initial outcry, throughout the investigation and in trial.

Jurors sentenced Salazar to 40 years in prison. Under the Continuous Sexual Abuse Statute enacted by the Texas Legislative in 2007, committing two or more sexual acts against a child over a period of time that exceeds 30 days is punishable by a minimum of 25 years in prison.

The statute known as Jessica’s Law was crafted to address issues of continued sexual abuse of a child, Hebert explained.

Hebert said Jurors felt that 40 years was appropriate. She added that the max sentence under the statute is 99 years to life. Additionally, the District Attorney’s office said that under this statute, Salazar is not eligible for parole and will serve the entire sentence.

“Knowing that offenders such as Mr. Salazar will not be eligible for parole is extremely beneficial to the healthy recovery of victims such as the young girl in this case,” District Attorney Brett Ligon said. “Mr. Salazar will have 40 long years away from society while his victim rests peacefully knowing that she is safe. Our office will continue to prosecute predators under this statute in every case that is appropriate.”

Hebert added that the jurors’ sentence is a message from the community that “enough is enough.”

“This is sending a message to stop hurting our children,” she said. “We’re going to clean up Montgomery County one case at a time.”

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