BEAUMONT, Texas — A Beaumont man has been sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a child under 14 years of age.
The trial of Richard Lee Anderson, 37, began on Monday in the Criminal District Court, but came to an unexpected end today after he agreed to withdraw his not-guilty plea and pleaded no contest.
Anderson was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child younger than 14 years of age.
If he had been convicted by a jury, he would have faced from five to 99 or life in prison. The jury could have also considered his previous felony convictions and enhanced his minimum punishment to 25 years in prison.
Judge Stevens sentenced Anderson to ten years in prison and also ordered him to register as a sex offender.
A related charge of indecency with a child was dismissed per the plea agreement.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
If you have information about a crime you could earn a cash reward of up to $1000 by providing an ANONYMOUS tip to Crime Stoppers of Southeast Texas.
Call 833-TIPS (8477) or download the P3Tips App on your mobile device to submit your tip anonymously.
