Augustine Alvarez accepted a plea agreement in McLennan County after the woman reported the alleged abuse decades after it began.
WACO, TX — A 51-year-old Texas man was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual assault of a child in a case involving abuse that began when the victim was 12, according to court records and local reporting.
Augustine Alvarez, who had been living in Cleburne, accepted a plea agreement Sept. 14 in Waco’s 54th State District Court rather than proceed to trial. McLennan County records show he was originally indicted in October 2024 on four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and six counts of sexual assault of a child.
Under the agreement, prosecutors dismissed the four aggravated sexual assault counts and three of the sexual assault counts. Alvarez received 15-year sentences on each of the remaining three counts. Two sentences will run at the same time, while the third will follow them, resulting in a total prison term of 30 years.
The woman reported the abuse in May 2024, nearly three decades after it began, KWTX reported. Court documents cited by the station said the first unlawful sexual contact occurred in May 1998, when she was 12. She later had four children with Alvarez, including her first child when she was 14 and another when she was 16.
Prosecutor Tara Avants told the court that the structure of the plea agreement ensured Alvarez would receive a 30-year sentence. After the hearing, Avants said the case showed that authorities can still pursue some child sexual abuse cases many years after the alleged conduct occurred.
The case had previously been scheduled for trial in July. A visiting judge declared a mistrial during jury selection after too many prospective jurors were excused, leaving too few people to complete the panel. Alvarez was again scheduled for trial before entering the plea agreement.
Defense attorney Jason P. Darling acknowledged the long delay between the alleged abuse and the woman’s report and said Alvarez chose the agreement after weighing the possibility of a longer sentence if the case went to trial.
Alvarez will receive credit for roughly two years already spent in the McLennan County Jail. KWTX reported that he must serve at least 15 years before becoming eligible to seek parole and will be required to register as a sex offender for life.
Author note: Last updated September 19, 2026.