Houston Man Victor Prado Sentenced to Two Life Terms for Torturing Girlfriend’s Children Over Year

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A judge has sentenced a 45-year-old man to two life sentences for severely abusing his partner’s two children over a year, according to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

Victor Prado, a Houston man, was found guilty of two counts of injury to a child causing serious bodily harm, a first-degree felony.

Prado was dating a woman with two young children, ages 3 and 4 at the time, and allowed them to live in a commercial office building in the 900 block of Cook Road where he worked as the owner of a moving company in southwest Houston.

ORIGINAL REPORT: Fugitive Wanted for Torturing Children in SW Houston

Authorities said Prado would watch the children while their mother went to work.

In May 2020, Child Protective Services caseworkers began investigating allegations about the children and removed them from their mother’s care before having them evaluated at Texas Children’s Hospital.

An HPD investigation was launched after the five-year-old boy was found to be severely malnourished and weighed 30 pounds. Medical personnel testified during the six-day trial that the child looked like a skeleton. He suffered from bone fractures in various stages of healing and permanent loss of brain tissue.

According to witnesses, the girl had been beaten and suffered serious injuries from blunt objects, including broken ribs and a severe intestinal injury. She also suffered from bedsores.

Both children had ligature marks on their hands, wrists, ankles and feet that left permanent scars. According to doctors who examined the victims, both suffered pelvic injuries that are seen only in children who are victims of car accidents.

Their injuries were classified as “childhood torture,” defined in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma as: “At least two physical assaults, occurring in at least two incidents or a single prolonged incident, that could cause prolonged physical pain, emotional distress, bodily injury, or death and at least two elements of psychological abuse such as isolation, intimidation, emotional/psychological abuse, terror, contempt, or deprivation.”

A jury heard the evidence and convicted Prado.

“At a time in their lives when they should have been receiving love and affection, these two children were subjected to violence and fear. They lost their innocence,” said Assistant District Attorney Ashela Sheridan. “They will have to live the rest of their lives with the consequences of what this man did to them, and so should he.”

Prado must serve at least 39 years in prison before being eligible for parole, authorities said. The two life sentences will run concurrently.