Dallas man sentenced to life in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing a young child | Crime

PRESS RELEASE

KAUFMAN, Tex. — District Attorney Erleigh Norville Wiley announced today that a Kaufman County jury found BRYANT PEARL guilty of the crime of continuous sexual abuse of a young child, a first-degree felony. Due to a prior conviction for sexual abuse of a child in Dallas County, Pearl was automatically sentenced to a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole by the Honorable Shelton Gibbs in the 422nd District Court.

During the trial, jurors heard from the named victim and two other identified victims he abused. Pearl began sexually abusing each of these young girls as early as middle school, with some girls continuing to abuse until they were 17 years old. Pearl isolated his victims from their families and convinced them that no one would believe them if they told them about the abuse or that they were participating willingly. Pearl’s current charges were enhanced due to a previous conviction for sexual abuse of a child in 2006 in Dallas County, Texas.

Pearl had already spent three years in the Texas Department of Corrections for this crime. Despite this previous conviction and lifetime registration as a sex offender, Pearl repeatedly dated women who had young daughters, whom he then abused. Evidence showed that although Pearl claimed to reside in Dallas, Texas on his sex offender registration, he actually lived in a home in the Travis Ranch Subdivision and committed this abuse.

The prosecution was led by Assistant District Attorneys Ashley Holman and Taylor McConnell, Investigator Sandra Ortiz, Victim Assistance Coordinator Sabrina Mumaw and Paralegal Amanda Morris. The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office for all of its hard work and the lead investigator on the case, Janet Freeman.

“This case is a textbook example of the power of grooming behavior in child abuse cases. Not only are victims of abuse exposed to the grooming behavior of an abuser, but everyone around the child who might be in a position to protect him or her,” said District Attorney Erleigh Wiley.