Texas man sentenced to life in prison for child sex abuse in Celina

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COLLIN COUNTY, Texas - A Collin County judge sentenced a man to life in prison without parole after a jury found him guilty of child sexual abuse in Celina.

What we know:

65-year-old Donald Joachim of Rosenberg, Texas, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty of continuous sexual abuse of a child.. The crime occurred in Celina from 2017 to 2020.

According to a press release on the case, Joachim had access to the child victim through a relationship with the family. He started sexually abusing the victim when the child was a toddler, and continued until the child was 13-years old.

When the victim was 14-years old, she reported the abuse to her sister-in-law, who then reported it to authorities in Comal County. Investigators discovered the abuse also occurred in Canyon Lake and Austin, where the child and their family previously lived.

Joachim later confessed to several family members of the victim he had abused the child.

Further investigation into Joachim revealed he abused multiple children in the late 1990s and early 2000s, using his relationship with the children's families to groom the children for abuse.

What they're saying:

"For too long, this predator exploited trust within families to abuse multiple children across years and locations. Today’s life-without-parole sentence sends a clear message that Collin County will relentlessly pursue justice and safeguard our children," Greg Willis, the Collin County District Attorney, said after sentencing.