SAN ANTONIO – Update (Saturday, July 22):
A Tejano singer who was found guilty on one count of indecency with a child by contact has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Jesse Farias, 43, was found not guilty on two other counts of indecency with a child by contact on Friday night after a Bexar County jury deliberated for several hours. The three instances of sexual assault stem from 2019 to 2020.
The jury also denied Farias’ application for probation, according to the Bexar County District Attorney.
Farias will be required to register as a sex offender for life and he will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence, the DA said.
“Sex crimes against children are unacceptable in any situation, but they are particularly reprehensible when committed by a close family member who violates the trust bestowed upon them,” said Bexar County Criminal District Attorney Joe Gonzales in a statement. “In this case, the complainant testified that she considered the defendant like a second father to her.”
Farias was facing a punishment of up to 20 years in prison.
Original:
The singer of a Tejano band in San Antonio took the witness stand at his trial and denied touching an underaged girl inappropriately.
Jesse Farias, of Tropa F, is on trial on a charge of indecency with a child by contact.
A female relative of Farias has accused him of touching her repeatedly and inappropriately.
On the witness stand Thursday, Farias testified that he would pick up the girl after school, along with his children, and drop her off at her home.
When asked by attorneys if he ever touched the girl, he replied: “That did not happen at no point in time, whether I was in the truck or in the van. I never touched her thigh, never touched her breast.”
Farias also denied asking the girl if she wanted to see his penis and denied ever taking off her pajamas, claims that she made to the police.
The girl testified earlier this week that the alleged inappropriate touching started when she was 16 at family gatherings, after school and after a sleepover. She is now 18.
She testified that Farias was “like a father to me”
When the girl was cross-examined by the defense on Tuesday, she began to visibly shake and cry under a barrage of questions. She would later collapse in the courtroom, and the trial was canceled for the rest of that day.
A son and a daughter of Farias refuted claims by the girl that the defendant would pick her up after school alone.
Because this is a sexual assault case, KSAT 12 News will not be disclosing the victim’s identity.
The jury is deliberating Friday.
If Farias is found guilty, he faces a punishment of up to 20 years in prison.