Odessan was exonerated on Tuesday.
An Odessa man accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year old girl nearly five years ago was found not guilty Tuesday. Daniel Anthony Chavez, 39, faced two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child in the 161st Ector County District Court. The alleged victim told jurors Monday Chavez came into her room early on the morning of Nov. 20, 2018, shortly after herlittle sister fell out of bed and put her back into bottom bunk of the bed they shared. Her sister took up the entire bed, so shecurled up on the floor with a blanket, she said. Sometime later, she said Chavez came back and digitally penetrated her and performed oral sex on her. She testified hermother came into the room moments later and confronted Chavez at which point he partially pulled up her pajama bottomsand ran to the bathroom to wash his face and hands. The girl testified Chavez later begged her not to tell authorities what had happened. On Tuesday, prosecutors Kortney Williams and Rikki Earnest showed jurors the taped interview of Chavez conducted by thenEctor County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Donald Allbrooks and rested their case. Defense attorney Luis Chavez then opened his case by putting his client on the stand. Daniel Chavez testified that a few hours after the children in the home went to bed that night, he took a shower and brushedhis teeth. He then noticed both girls were asleep on the floor. Assuming the younger one had fallen out of bed, he pulled theblanket the girls shared back and placed her back into bed. He then went back into the bathroom to put his socks on andnoticed he had toothpaste on his chin. The defendant testified he lathered up his hands and washed the toothpaste off hisface. While he was coming out of the bathroom, Daniel Chavez said he was confronted by the girl’s mother, who was already on thephone with 911. It was only then that he looked into the girls’ bedroom and realized the older girl was partially exposed. Daniel Chavez told his attorney he thinks the girl’s mother jumped to conclusions because of events in her past and testifiedthere’d been a lot of tension in the home leading up to that night. He also testified he has no idea what the alleged victim had been doing while he was in the bathroom washing his face, butshe’d been covered up in the blanket when he moved her sister to the bed. Earlier in the trial, Luis Chavez’s co-counsel,Anthony Chavez, had asked a licensed professional counselor about when adolescents begin exploring their sexuality.…
