Jury sentences man to life for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child
LIBERTY — A Liberty County jury rendered a guilty verdict and sentenced a man to life in prison for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child.
A jury in the 75th District Court of Judge Mark Morefield found Rossy Anderson Davis, 44, guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old Cleveland girl in May 2019.
“This jury sent a clear and immediate message to the Defendant and to anyone else who would abuse children in Liberty County: Commit these heinous acts, and this will be your fate. Life in prison was the only appropriate response to this type of evil,” said Liberty County District Attorney Jennifer Bergman.
Davis is alleged to have traveled from his home in Beaumont to meet the victim behind dumpsters at the apartment complex where she lived in Cleveland, where he engaged in the sexual assault.
Davis is said to have continued communicating with the girl via text messaging about the encounter and how it would continue, even going as far as telling the girl he would move her into his home and marry her.
The girl’s mother is said to have discovered text messages in her phone and reported the incident to authorities.
During the trial, the victim, her mother, and officers from the Cleveland Police Department testified.
Evidence was presented by the prosecution that showed DNA from Davis on the victim’s clothing that was collected from the assault.
The state also utilized cell phone data through a program called “Cellhawk,” which was designed to utilize cell phone history and establish that Davis was in the area at the time of the incident.
Davis was also found guilty in 2004 in Georgia on charges of statutory rape, and the victim testified to the court about the incident when she was 13 years old.
In the end, the jury found Davis guilty of the first-degree felony charge, but due to his previous conviction, Texas state law required a sentence of life in prison.
“I would like to thank the jury for their service. This kind of trial is hard to sit through, but they did their duty and helped make Liberty County a safer place,” said Assistant District Attorney Kevin Barnes.