Staff Report
HAYS COUNTY — Jose Nicolas-Gonzalez, 45, was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Sept. 15 for two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Nicolas-Gonzalez’s trial began on Sept. 12. The jury learned that he assaulted a young female relative repeatedly beginning from when she was about nine years old. He had access to the child on occasions when her mother took another relative to chemotherapy appointments.
The child testified that on multiple occasions while at Nicolas-Gonzalez’s house, the defendant placed his hand inside her clothes and used his fingers and hands to sexually assault her. Law enforcement became involved in Dec. 2019, when the child made an outcry of abuse to her mother. The child was forensically interviewed at Roxanne’s House, Hays County’s regional child advocacy center. The child related the abuse to the forensic interviewer, and, later, to a sexual assault nurse examiner.
Nicolas-Gonzalez’s attorneys argued the child fabricated the abuse, but the jury disagreed and returned verdicts of guilty on both counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child. After a punishment hearing, the jury returned verdicts calling for 60 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on each count. Senior Judge Dan Mills, sitting by assignment in the 453rd District Court, pronounced the sentence.
Hays County Criminal District Attorney Wes Mau congratulated Assistant Criminal District Attorney Catherine Schneider who led the prosecution with assistance from Court Chief Ben Gillis, as well as the officers and detectives with the Hays County Sheriff’s Office for their work in seeking justice in the case.
“It comes as no surprise that Hays County jurors have no tolerance for predators who target children,” Mau said. “Hopefully, this sentence will not only prevent Mr. Nicolas-Gonzalez from victimizing anyone else but also send a message to others who are inclined to believe they can take advantage of children without consequence.”
