A judge sentenced a 54-year-old Mission man to two decades in prison for sexually abusing a 6-year-old extended family member.
In a news release, the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office said Julio Caesar Pena had been set to go to a jury trial Friday, but instead entered a guilty plea to aggravated sexual assault of a child in front of state District Judge Joe R. Ramirez.
“It is up to all of us to protect our children and reported suspected child abuse,” District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez Jr. said in a news release. “I commend Chief Hope Palacios and our staff for obtaining a guilty plea and ensuring this suspect will never commit such a heinous act again.”
Palacios is the chief of the special crimes division and prosecuted the case with the assistance of the Mission Police Department, Children’s Advocacy Center of Hidalgo and Starr counties, and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
