PRESS RELEASE —  Criminal District Attorney Bob Wortham announced March 6, 2019 that Juan Manuel Alameda Fernandez, 57, was found guilty by a jury of Indecency with a Child by Exposure, a third-degree felony. Judge John Stevens will assess Fernandez’s sentence on April 8, 2019, after a pre-sentence investigation is conducted.

Judge Stevens, on Monday, sentenced Fernandez to 15 years TDCJ.

On June 25, 2018, the two female victims, nine and 12 years old, were attempting to catch stray cats in their neighbor’s front yard. They heard Fernandez call to them from inside his bedroom window. When the girls looked, they saw Fernandez naked, masturbating, and making eye contact with them. The children then told their neighbor, who immediately notified the victim’s parents and law enforcement. The victims were forensically interviewed at The Garth House in Beaumont, and provided consistent details about the incident.

Upon investigation, it was revealed that Fernandez had previously offered the victims food and jewelry. Fernandez had also asked one of the girls to call him and provided her a note with his phone number. The Grand Jury indicted Fernandez on August 8, 2018. The case was tried in the Criminal District Court of Jefferson County. The jury convicted Fernandez after ten (10) minutes of deliberation.

The case was investigated by Detective Charles Duchamp of the Beaumont Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Tatiana Zelezniak of the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.

The range of punishment for the offense of Indecency with a Child by Exposure is a minimum of two  and a maximum of 10 years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Fernandez’s prior drug-related felony conviction increased his range of punishment up to 20 years.