A 42-year-old Bellevue man faces 90 years to life in prison after being found guilty Thursday of sexually assaulting two 12-year-old children.
A Sarpy County jury of seven women and five men needed just over three hours to find Paul A. Valverde guilty of five counts of sexual assault and four counts of child abuse, including having sex with the girl several times a week over the course of many months.
District Judge Max Kelch, who presided over the trial, will sentence Valverde April 23.
Prosecutors Jennifer Miralles and Stephanie Hansen relied on the testimony of the boy and girl, both now 14, as well as extensive DNA testing from experts at the Nebraska Medical Center in obtaining the convictions.
"Justice is served," Hansen said after the verdict was read. "We are thrilled to see justice for the victims."
During the trial, defense attorney Chris Lathrop sought to discredit the testimony of the children as well as cast doubt on the accuracy of the DNA testing.
The defense also contended that Bellevue police officers made up their minds about Valverde's guilt because he had a prior sexual assault conviction in 1995 after impregnating a 14-year-old girl.
"He makes a mistake in 1995 and it's, 'Let's get him,'" Lathrop said of police.
Hansen told the court that the case "was about a secret so horrible that the victims could not and did not tell for a long time."
She said the boy came forward first because the girl suffered from the "enormous pressures" placed on abused children by perpetrators to "keep their secret."
The children both testified that, on the night of July 4, 2010, Valverde first touched the boy inappropriately and then ordered him to have sex with the girl.
Both children said that when the boy failed to perform up to expectations, Valverde took over to "show him" what to do.
In December of that year, the girl broke down and told her mother and stepfather about the ongoing sexual assaults.
Miralles reminded the jury that the girl stuck to her story despite "three or four hours of testimony" in which she was forced to describe her "worst possible nightmare of a sexual experience."
"The defendant raped (the girl) of her innocence and he took her childhood away," Miralles said. "That's not only despicable but sick and heartbreaking."
Contact the writer:
402-444-1272, kevin.cole@owh.com
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