Lubbock Man Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison for Years of Child Sexual Abuse, Victim was Aged 10
Alec Mendoza, 26, of Lubbock, Texas, has been sentenced to life in federal prison for the sexual abuse of a child over a period of more than two years, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
Mendoza was indicted in May 2024 and pleaded guilty in August 2024 to enticement of a minor. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix delivered the life sentence on Friday.
According to court documents, Mendoza met the victim, identified as “Jane Doe,” and her mother at a party in 2020. At the time, Doe was 10 years old, and Mendoza was 22. Mendoza began communicating with Doe online, and on Valentine’s Day 2021, when Doe was 11 and Mendoza was 23, the sexual abuse began.
Shortly after, Mendoza moved into Doe’s family home. For the following two and a half years, he engaged in sexual intercourse with Doe approximately 30 to 50 times. Mendoza also sent Doe messages discussing sex and instructed her to delete their communications.
The abuse was discovered in December 2023 when Doe’s mother caught Mendoza sending her daughter text messages late at night from his bedroom. When confronted, Mendoza confessed to an ongoing sexual relationship with Doe.
During the sentencing hearing, the government revealed that Mendoza failed a post-conviction polygraph examination and subsequently confessed to sexually abusing a second child. A search of his phone also uncovered 20 videos of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Mendoza admitted to law enforcement that he received and distributed CSAM online.
At sentencing, Judge Hendrix told Mendoza that words could not adequately describe the lasting trauma he inflicted. In imposing the life sentence, Judge Hendrix stated, “I have to make a lot of difficult decisions. This is not one of them.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Lubbock Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Rancourt prosecuted the case.
