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Ernest Amaya Landin, Jr. was sentenced to Life in prison Thursday, February 4, 2016 by 268th District Court Judge Brady G. Elliott following a jury trial in which the 41-year old Rosenberg man was found guilty on two counts of Sexual Assault of a Child. Evidence presented by prosecutors Natalie McKinnon and Lisa P. Gregg showed that the defendant was hired by the child victims family in January 2010 to do construction work on the familys home. The defendant quickly began a friendship with the family and even lived in the home for a period of time. Landin gained the trust of the family, including his teenage victim, and manipulated her into engaging in sexual activity with him. An investigation was initiated in November 2010 after the childs mother caught Landin kissing her daughter. At that time, the girl denied additional physical activity, but her parents ended their friendship with Landin and had no further contact with him. In 2014, authorities learned the girl admitted to her mother that sexual conduct had occurred. She was interviewed again and disclosed that on numerous occasions, the defendant had picked her up from school and taken her to motels to engage in sexual activity and then returned her to school. Evidence showed, as is often the case with sexual assaults involving teenagers, that Landin manipulated the child by telling her she was beautiful, that he loved her, and he wanted to be with her. At one point, the victim tried to make the sexual activity stop, but Landin responded that he would end his friendship with her family and her parents would learn what was going on if she refused his advances. During trial, the victim relayed that she had not been ready to disclose all that happened during the initial interview because she feared her mothers opinion and she wanted to protect the defendant. Fiona Remko, Program Director of the Fort Bend Child Advocates Center, testified that disclosure of sexual abuse is a process, and it is not uncommon for children to initially minimize or deny abuse and then later disclose it. Prosecutors later presented evidence to Judge Elliott proving that Landin was previously convicted of Sexual Assault of a Child in 1993. Texas law provides that a person who commits Sexual Assault of a Child be sentenced to Life imprisonment if the individual has been previously convicted of another sexual offense committed against a child. In a hearing outside the presence of the jury during a pre-trial matter, Landins previous child victim, now an adult, testified about what happened to her. Ms. Gregg stated, It is not easy for people to tell when someone has sexually abused them, and it is very emotional when the abuse occurred when the person was a child. The perpetrator in this case is going to prison for life and I hope children know that adults do listen when they tell. Lead prosecutor, Natalie McKinnon, said that child abuse cases are among some of the most difficult cases to prosecute. These types of offenses are secret crimes and are often committed when only the defendant and minor child are alone together, frequently making the minor child the only witness to the crime. This requires the child to testify about the sexual abuse in the courtroom. McKinnon expressed empathy for the child victims of Landin, The trials of child abuse cases involve facts that are difficult for adults, let alone children, to talk about. We are extremely proud of the witnesses who testified in this case. We commend the strength it took for them to reveal the truth. When they stood up for themselves, they stood up for other child victims of abuse. McKinnon and Gregg also had praise for the jurors in the case and acknowledge the testimony in child abuse cases is not pleasant to listen to and jurors perform a vital role in the criminal justice system. |
