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By Staff Report
Posted March 26, 2010 at 9:46 a.m. , updated March 26, 2010 at 9:26 p.m.
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Minutes after he was sentenced to a lifetime in prison, Daniel Timothy Ozuna Jr., a San Angelo man convicted of sexual abuse of a child, made a run for it.
While handcuffed, he broke away from courthouse security outside the building after being sentenced Thursday and made it a few blocks before a courthouse deputy reached him.
“All courthouse security chased him,” said Tom Green County Sheriff spokesman Bill Fiveash. “He got as far as Second and Farr.”
The 32-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison on one count of indecency with a child by sexual contact. He was charged with five counts — two on two children and one on a third child.
Ozuna, who originally is from Nebraska but lived in San Angelo at the time of the offense, received the sentence from Judge Tom Gossett in 391st District Court.
A jury found Ozuna guilty on one of the counts Wednesday night.
According to the district attorney’s office the offense occurred in August 2005. The girl was 7 years old at the time.
Local attorney Rae Leifeste was the defense lawyer, and Allison Palmer, First Assistant to the 51st District Attorney, was the prosecuting attorney.
“The state is very pleased with the sentence in this case,” Palmer said. “With a life sentence, this defendant will have minimal opportunity to hurt children again.”
Leifeste could not be reached Friday for comment.
The newspaper does not release names of sexual abused or underage victims.
Palmer said she couldn’t think of another instance of this type of offense drawing a life sentence in Tom Green County, but she said that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.
One reason for the severe sentence was Ozuna’s criminal record: According to Tom Green County District Court records, Ozuna was convicted of sexual assault in 2005 and sentenced to five years in prison. He also was convicted of a third-degree felony family violence charge and a misdemeanor family violence offense.
Ozuna was serving the five-year sentence when he was brought back to San Angelo to stand trial this week on the additional charges.
The three children in the case testified against Ozuna. A counselor for two of the children, two foster parents and a San Angelo Police detective who obtained a partial confession from Ozuna also took the stand.
Palmer said the children are now ages 11, 10 and 7.
The allegations surfaced two years after the abuse for which Ozuna was convicted. It wasn’t until the children were placed in foster care in 2007 that others learned of the abuse and reported it to authorities.
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/mar/26/san-angelo-man-sentenced-
to-life-in-child-sex/
Emphasis added by H4K Editor |