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(CNN) -- A Texas father caught a man sexually assaulting his 4-year-old daughter and punched him in the head repeatedly, killing him, authorities said. The father was casually acquainted with the alleged abuser, said Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon. Neither has been publicly identified. The girl was left inside the family's house during the social gathering, while other members of her family were tending to horses, the sheriff said. The alleged abuser was known for his horse-grooming abilities, Harmon said. The father returned to the house, caught the man in the act, and stopped him by striking him in the...

FORT WORTH, Texas - A man convicted of abducting a girl as she walked to elementary school and molesting her must serve nearly 400 years in prison, a judge decided Wednesday. Jeremiah Sexton, 23, of Springtown, must serve four sentences of 99 years each. State District Judge Wayne Salvant, calling Sexton a "serial predator," ordered the sentences to be served consecutively, making the total 396 years behind bars. A jury Tuesday convicted Sexton on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated kidnapping. Sexton was arrested in February and accused of abducting and sexually...

Dale Rowin, co-owner of Tom's Tree Place tells NewsChannel 11 "We are a family owned business. We work hard for what we've got and we're gonna protect it with all we've got." A few weeks ago Dale noticed a hose left over a fence at Tom's Tree Place maintenance garage and then he started taking notice of tire tracks. He explains, "I smoothed out the dirt to watch for tracks and sure enough I found tracks where they were coming, filling up, and going on." Dale set up surveillence and discovered thieves were prying open the lock to his gate,...

A convicted sex offender who fled to Alaska after his arrest in Waco for abusing a 13-year-old girl in October 2002 was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday. Albert Alan Aylor, 51, who previously lived in Chalk Bluff, pleaded guilty Friday to indecency with a child by contact, bail jumping and failing to comply with sex offender registration laws. Aylor, who has at least two prior convictions for sex crimes against children, was eligible for an automatic life prison term if convicted again for a sex crime. However, prosecutors agreed to waive the enhancement allegation in a plea bargain...

Attorneys with the Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers Association are threatening legal action if a victims' rights monument on the lawn of the county courthouse is not removed. (snip) The granite monument which reads, "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are," was erected April 11 by several victims' advocacy groups. (snip) "There can't be anything for victims on the courthouse lawn," Griffin said in the meeting. "The courthouse is for justice." Metze said in the meeting that having a monument on the courthouse grounds gives the impression that the county favors...

One Suspect In Critical Condition HOUSTON -- A northeast Houston man opened fire on suspected car thieves who were trying to steal his vehicle, police told Local 2 Friday. Officers said two men driving a stolen tow truck were trying to tow a car out of the Swiss Village Apartments parking lot on Homestead near Tidwell shortly before 5 a.m. Roosevelt Grant is a neighbor of the car owner. He said he knew something was wrong when he saw the white Buick LeSabre hooked up to a tow truck. Then, he said he saw his neighbor running after his car...

DALLAS -- A judge welcomed a former fugitive back to her courtroom with balloons, streamers and a cake before sentencing him to life in prison. "You just made my day when I heard you had finally come home," Judge Faith Johnson told Billy Wayne Williams, who had been convicted in absentia of aggravated assault after he disappeared a year ago. "We're so excited to see you, we're throwing a party for you." Williams, 53, who has a criminal record dating to the 1980s, was accused of choking his girlfriend until she passed out. He failed to appear for his trial...