Bristol County man sentenced to decades in prison for systematic abuse of former stepdaughter

A 34-year-old Attleboro man convicted of numerous indictments related to the systematic sexual abuse of his former stepdaughter will sentenced to state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Kevin Najera Jimenez was convicted by a jury of his peers yesterday in Fall River Superior Court after a two-week-long trial. He was convicted of indictments charging him with Rape of a Child with Force, Rape of a Child, Assault and Battery, Strangulation/Suffocation, four counts of Rape of a Child-Aggravated by Age Difference, five counts of Indecent Assault and Battery on a Person Under 14 and two counts of Posing or Exhibiting a Child in the Nude. The jury deliberated for about two-and-a-half hours before convicting the defendant of all charges.

During the trial, the victim testified to near daily sexual abuse at the hands of Jimenez for more than six consecutive years between February of 2012 and November of 2018. The defendant was the sole caretaker of the victim when her mother was working six nights per week. He would often isolate her from her other siblings and friends, he would mock her and tell her no one would believe her if she ever told anyone, and he would extort her by not allowing her to go to her youth group if she did not comply with his sexual advances.

The child pornography and exhibition convictions relate to the fact that Jimenez often took many photos of himself raping and molesting the child and kept those photos on his phone for several years. During the trial, both the victim and the victim’s mother identified the individuals in the photos to be the victim and the defendant.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Casey Smith and Danielle Pixley, who requested a 35 to 50 years state prison term, to be followed by 10 years of supervised probation. The defense had asked for a more lenient 10-year state prison term with five years of supervised probation. Jimenez was sentenced to 30 to 45 years.

The state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Sharon Donatelle. In addition to the 30-to-45-year prison term, Jimenez will also be placed on supervised probation with GPS monitoring for an additional five years upon his eventual release from prison. The defendant, a Guatemalan immigrant, was also advised that his conviction will likely result in deportation upon completion of his sentence.

“The defendant abused his access to the victim by raping her repeatedly over a six-year period. The defendant’s behavior was outrageous and demented. I commend the victim for persevering through this very difficult ordeal. A lengthy prison sentence was more than warranted,” District Attorney Quinn said.