DENISON, Texas — Collin County officials announced Wednesday a North Texas man was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of indecency with a child.
Officials said Joe Angel Rodriguez, a 44-year-old from Denison, would spend the rest of his life behind bars after being previously convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child in 2007.
“The fact that a convicted child predator ever has the opportunity to abuse another child, much less two children, is tragic for the entire community. The life sentence in this case will ensure that never happens again,” said Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis after sentencing.
Rodriguez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the 2007 aggravated sexual assault of a child and was released in 2016. After Rodriguez was released, he became close with two separate families and had access to two children, one in McKinney and one in Farmers Branch, according to county officials.
Officials said Rodriguez sexually abused each child and the one in McKinney eventually told her father. The girl's father reported the assault to police and Rodriguez was arrested.
Without knowledge of Rodriguez's arrest, the Farmers Branch child out-cried to her mother, who also notified police. A jury found Rodriguez guilty after hearing evidence of his history of child abuse, as well as evidence that Rodriguez also abused both the McKinney child and the Farmers Branch child.
Judge James Fry presided over the case and assessed the mandatory punishment of life in prison. By law, Rodriguez received an automatic sentence of life in prison because of his prior conviction for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child, the Collin County DA's office said.
