Accused repeat sex offender sentenced to life in prison

A Waring man convicted by a Kendall County jury of aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by sexual contact will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Troy Lynn Thomas, 63, was found guilty at the end of a three-day trial in the 451st state District Court, according to a Friday post on the Kendall County District Attorney’s Facebook page. During the proceedings, which concluded Oct. 2, prosecutors requested the jury sentence Thomas to life plus 20 years, with the aggravated sexual assault of a child charge punishable by 5 to 99 years, or life, and the indecency with a child by sexual contact offense punishable by two to 20 years.

On Oct. 3, the jury sentenced him to confinement for life and 20 years, respectively, in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility.

According to court records, Thomas committed the offenses in 2021 in Kendall County, but an outcry wasn’t made to the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office until 2023.

During the trial, the victim, now 15 years old, testified she was sexually assaulted by Thomas at age 12 while visiting him.

Thomas had asked her to come over and help clean out his shed for $20, prosecutors said.

After the assault, the victim testified Thomas proposed payments in the form of a cellphone, a laptop and money as long as she didn’t tell anyone about the abuse.

According to prosecutors, this was not the first crime of a sexual nature committed by the defendant.

Prosecutors Andrew Fields and Alessandra Dieke presented evidence that Thomas had previously been convicted of sex offenses against a minor in 2023.

At the time the victim in the latest case made her outcry, Thomas was serving a prison sentence for one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child, one count of indecency with a child by exposure, and three counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact.

After sentencing for the current offense, state District Court Judge Kirsten Cohoon granted the prosecution’s request the two sentences be served consecutively.

According to court records, Thomas must serve at least 30 years in prison on the life sentence, and at least 10 additional years, before becoming eligible for parole — when Thomas will be 103 years old.