Lubbock man charged with multiple sex assaults sentenced to life in prison
A 34-year-old man prosecutors described as a serial rapist was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison after admitting to raping and impregnating a family member in 2019 when she was 12 years old.
Johnathon Carrizales, who has been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since his July 9, 2022 arrest, appeared in the 137th District Court and pleaded guilty to a lesser-included offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony that carries a punishment of five years to life in prison.
He initially faced a count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, which carries a punishment of 25 years to life in prison without parole.
He will have to serve 30 years of his sentence before he becomes eligible for release on parole. He will also have to register as a sex offender for life upon his release from prison.
"Mr. Carrizales had three options: Either plead (and) have a chance of parole, go to trial and possibly receive a sentence with no parole or a not-guilty," said Carrizales' attorney, Charles Blevins. "And I think after looking at the evidence and our advice, as you saw by his plea, he chose to plea where he has a chance to parole. So, I think that was his best option and that's what he chose."
Defense attorney Cynthia Mendoza said Carrizales' choice spared his victims from reliving the abuse though testifying and saved the county from spending money on a trial.
An outcry of abuse
The charge to which Carrizales pleaded stems from a Lubbock police investigation that began in March 2020 when officers responded to a report that he assaulted a 13-year-old girl.
However, while on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, the girl said Carrizales sexually assaulted her multiple times in the past, resulting in her becoming pregnant. She told the dispatcher she gave birth to a child, whom she gave up for adoption, according to court records.
When officers arrived at the scene, the girl became uncooperative and refused to provide further details.
Court documents indicate Carrizales raped the girl three times beginning when she was 10 in 2017 until 2021.
In 2022, Lubbock police arrested Carrizales in connection with an unrelated 2019 aggravated sexual assault case.
While in jail on his initial arrest, investigators met with Carrizales to speak to him about the March 2020 report. However, Carrizales refused to speak with them without an attorney or voluntarily provide them with a DNA sample.
Meanwhile, investigators obtained records from Child Protective Services that confirmed the girl did give birth to a child, who was given up for adoption.
Investigators also monitored Carrizales' jail phone calls and learned he called the girl telling her about his encounter with detectives. Carrizales could be heard saying he believed the detectives wanted to talk to him about "the baby," and believed he was going to be charged with more crimes, court records state.
Court documents show while in jail, Carrizales also wrote the girl sexually charged letters. In one he tells her, "you are the mother of my child and you will always be and my lover forever no matter what any one say about us because its me and you always and forever and ever and ever till one of us die or if we die together."
As part of his plea, unrelated charges of aggravated sexual assault, online solicitation of a minor and aggravated kidnapping were dismissed, though those cases also factored into the sentence he accepted, said prosecutor Lauren Murphree.
Murphree said Carrizales was linked to other sexual assaults that were not indicted.
"This defendant was unique in that he victimized those close to him -- members of his own family -- but also complete strangers, so (the life sentence) also good for the safety of the community," she said.
She said the plea deal offered Carrizales not only provides justice for his victims but also protected the community from him.
"I think it's a great result and really was the only thing we felt comfortable with on this case because of the violent nature of his offenses," she said.
Investigating abuse
Murphree credited old-fashioned detective work by Lubbock police investigators for the case against Carrizales.
"They took the descriptions that they had and locations and they were able to piece it together," she said. "One of the detectives with the (Lubbock County Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit ) was able to finally narrow down the suspects and information and they believed they had their suspect and then they just continued to stay on his trail and were able to identify him and DNA was able to link it back to each of the victims."
Police investigators also identified him as the suspect in an attempted abduction in May 2021. In that case a 15-year-old girl told investigators she was jogging in the 5000 block of Interstate-27 when a man approached her from behind and placed her in a chokehold.
The girl fought off her attacker, who ran away.
The girl confronted Carrizales during a victim impact statement at Wednesday's plea hearing.
"You are very much a real monster that used to walk among us," she said.
She told him his actions left her scared and paranoid for a long time.
"Because of what you did to me, I didn't feel comfortable leaving my room for weeks," she said. "I didn't want to leave the house, I didn't feel safe... when I finally did leave the house, always paranoid, wondering what could be behind me because at that point anything could happen."
However, the girl told Carrizales she's broken free from the grip of fear his attack held on her.
She said she casts onto him the nightmares, depression and anxiety she suffered.
"So today, I am repaying you with all of the darkness you put on to me and my life," she said. "It will be last time you ever see me. I hope my face haunts your nightmares for the rest of your life."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock man charged with multiple sex crimes sentenced to life
