District Attorney Micheal Murray reports that on Friday, April 1, 2016, the defendant Christopher Douglas Cornett was convicted of the felony offense of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young Child and was sentenced to 35 years in prison in the 35th District Court of Brown County, Texas.
The offense of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young Child carries a punishment range of life in prison, or any number of years not less than 25 or more than 99. There is no possibility of parole for this offense.
A jury found the defendant guilty of the offense, and District Judge Stephen Ellis assessed the punishment in the case.
Murray reported that he and First Assistant District Attorney Chris Brown presented evidence showing that the defendant committed multiple acts of sexual abuse against the 10-year-old victim over a period of several months in 2013.
Early Police Officer Michelle Sheedy testified that she took the initial report from the victim and her mother. The report was turned over to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office when Sheedy determined that the offense had occurred in the County. Sheriff’s Investigators Nathan Land and Scott Bird both testified that they took over the investigation from Sheedy. The child was interviewed by forensic interviewer Christy Robinson at the Heart of Texas Children’s Advocacy Center, located in Early, Texas. Robinson testified about the process of the interview and presented a video of the interview to the jury. After having the child examined by a certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE), Bird testified that the trauma done to this child was some of the worst he had seen in his career investigating cases of this type.