KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A 39-year-old man was convicted on Wednesday after prosecutors said he molested his stepdaughter when she was around 11 years old.
They said Cristobal Jose Vasquez also sent her inappropriate text messages around 2 years after the incident, soliciting sex. They said the young girl told a school counselor about the text messages, who then reached out to law enforcement.
A detective with the Knox County Sheriff's Office interviewed Vasquez and the young girl's mother. They said he admitted to sending text messages to her and during a three-day trial, the girl's mother testified in support of him. She said she told him to send the text messages to "test" the girl, according to a release from authorities.
They said the testimony contradicted a previous statement she gave to investigators, and the jury discredited it. Vasquez was then found guilty of aggravated sexual battery and solicitation of a minor.
He faces up to 12 years in prison for the first charge and up to 4 years in prison for the second charge. Prosecutors also said they would reach out to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about the conviction since he had been deported from the U.S. before,