Mother sentenced to 60 years for sexual abuse

A Nevada woman who had previously resided in Cass County was found guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and sentenced to 60 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. There is no possibility of parole for any sentence imposed for this offense under Texas law.

Vanessa Lucille Alexander, 36, stood trial in the 5th Judicial District Court on Tuesday. Alexander was represented by Longview attorneys Molly Larison and Natalie Anderson. Cass County Criminal District Attorney Courtney Shelton and Assistant District Attorney Nick Ross handled the prosecution for the State of Texas.

The victim, now 12-years-old, made her initial outcry in 2016--two years after she and her brother were permanently removed from Alexander’s custody.

A therapist from the Texarkana Children’s Advocacy Center testified about the victim’s second interview which was conducted in Sept. 2019 and how the abuse has affected the victim. The jury was permitted to watch the three-hour interview and compare it with testimony given at trial.

Alexander chose to testify in her own defense. She denied perpetrating sexual abuse on the victim, co-perpetrating the abuse with two unidentified men, and with her then boyfriend of seven years.

On Friday evening, the jury deliberated for less than two hours before returning a guilty verdict. After about an hour of deliberation during the sentencing phase, the jury returned a 60-year sentence.

Alexander committed two or more acts of sexual abuse against the victim who was under the age of 14 between March 30, 2013 and August 7, 2014 for a period of 30 or more days in duration in Cass County. Alexander and her two children had lived in Longview, Hughes Springs, Avinger, and Daingerfield at various points within that time frame.

Detective Mike Marshowsky with the Elko Police Department in Elko, Nev. testified that he was contacted by investigators in Longview who sought assistance in conducting an interview with Alexander as part of their own investigation. The investigators provided an initial report along with a detailed report on the victim’s first forensic interview with the Children’s Advocacy Center. Marshowsky interviewed Alexander on June 20, 2017.

Alexander was arrested by Elko police on Sept. 12, 2018 and remained in their custody while awaiting extradition to Cass County.

After sentencing, impact statements were read aloud to Alexander while she sat on the witness stand.

“I am very happy of where I am today. I don’t think of the past. I refuse to let you live in my day. I will think positive for the rest of my life. “, the victim read.

Her permanent caregiver read, “It’s taken three and a half years of therapy to get her where she is today. She is in the healing process and I’m very proud of her. She is learning self-respect, love, and responsibility and what it means to be a family. She has a mother, father, and brother who love her, dearly. She gets to be a kid now. Something she would have never been able to do with you.”

The victim and her brother have been in the custody of their permanent caregivers since their removal and currently live out of state.

This was the first case Shelton has tried with a female perpetrator of sexual abuse. In preparation, she made inquiry to surrounding counties for feedback about other cases that involved female abusers.

“I found it to be one of the only cases around that has ever been tried where a mom has perpetrated on her own child. After speaking with my expert, I learned that sex offenses with female perpetrators are highly underreported.”

Shelton said of the outcome, “The child in our case is the true hero. She stood up to the woman who was supposed to be her protector, the woman who was supposed to keep her safe. She told the jury about things that happened to her that no child at 6 years of age should even know about. I am so proud of her, and I am proud of the citizens of Cass County who believed in her. They showed the rest of the county how we feel about sex offenders in our community – they will not be tolerated!”