A 33-year-old man who admitted to separately sexually abusing children in 2018 and 2019 was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.
Chadrick Deshawn Moore appeared by video conference from the Lubbock County Detention Center before Lubbock County District Judge William Eichman and pleaded guilty to a count of sexual assault of a child, which carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.
Moore was initially charged with counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, which carries a punishment of five years to life in prison. He also faced a count of indecency with a child by sexual contact.
During Thursday morning's hearing, Moore pleaded guilty to the lesser included offense of sexual assault of a child and Eichman imposed the 10 year-sentence, which was a result of a plea bargain with the Lubbock County District Attorney's Office. As part of that deal, the indecency with a child by sexual contact was dismissed.
Prosecutors believe Moore sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl in 2017 and sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in September 2018 by inappropriately touching her, attempting to make her perform a sexual act on him and exposing himself to her, according to indictments filed against him.
Lubbock police started an investigation on Sept 28, 2019 when the 12-year-old girl made an outcry of sexual abuse against Moore, who is a family member.
She said Moore inappropriately touched her and then exposed himself to her while she was trying to sleep on a couch, according to an arrest warrant issued on April 16.
Then in June 2019, a second girl, who was 8 years old at the time, accused Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 6. At that time, Moore was in the midst of a separate charge of indecency with a child by sexual contact.
In that case, Moore was accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl in March 2017. However, that case was dismissed, according to court records.
Moore spoke with detective three times as they investigated the latest allegations against him.
During one of the interviews with Lubbock police, Moore reportedly said that "kids are honest" and "If someone does this they need to go to jail." Later on in the interview he reportedly said, "I'm going to jail. Kids don't lie."
According to the warrant, results from a lie-detector test Moore took in July indicated deception when he denied questions about the sexual abuse.
During the interviews, Moore would deny the allegations, but then said the abuse could have happened when he was drinking and that there was "enough to put me away," the warrant states.
