-
Broadus
On Feb. 21, a Burnet County jury found Christopher Broadus, 54, guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Because of Broadus’s prior conviction for sexual assault of a child, Texas law provides for an automatic life sentence in prison upon conviction.
Judge Evan Stubbs of the 424th Judicial District Court pronounced sentence just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday evening. Broadus, who listed an address in Kingsland, will serve the life sentence with no possibility for parole.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Bill Price and Tiffany Clark. Nathan Knight and Sean Rogers represented the defendant.
In February 2020, the victim in this case made an outcry to her family that the defendant, who was a family friend, sexually abused her when she was approximately eight years old.
Family members contacted law enforcement, and Investigators from the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office worked in conjunction with law enforcement from Milam County, where the victim was living at the time of the outcry, to set up a forensic interview for the victim at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Bryan.
During the trial, jurors learned of the defendant’s prior conviction for sexual assault of a child and heard from the former Arlington Police Department investigator, who investigated that case in the early 1990s.
The jury heard compelling testimony from the victim, who told jurors that she had originally hoped to keep this secret forever, because she was afraid no one would believe her due to the close friendship between Broadus and the victim’s family.
The victim’s older sister testified that the defendant had also victimized her when she was in high school. Jurors heard from community partners at the Advocacy Center in Bryan as well as an expert from the local Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center who educated jurors on the dynamics of grooming and its impact on delayed outcries for victims of sexual abuse.
In closing arguments, Clark reminded the jury that protecting children is a community effort, and that the jury had the opportunity to protect the victim in this case as well as any other child in our community from coming in contact with this defendant ever again.
Price reminded the jury that the victim’s trust had been broken all her life by people closest to her, and he asked the jurors to show the victim that she can trust this community and the criminal justice system to protect victims and hold sex offenders accountable.
District Attorney Sonny McAfee praised the collaborative effort of law enforcement and community partners across Texas to achieve justice in this case.
“Thanks to the diligence of the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office, Milam County Sheriff’s Office, Scotty’s House in Bryan, and our local Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center, this defendant will never again be able to put his hands on another child.
Our community is a safer place because of their commitment to this work.”