On Friday, May 16, 2025, Judge J. Allan Garrett of the 33rd District Court sentenced Alieca Deshane to twenty years in prison after a Blanco County jury found her guilty of Sexual Assault of a Child. The jury also found Deshane guilty of Endangering a Child, and Judge Garrett sentenced Deshane to two years in a State Jail Facility on that charge. The sentence for each charge is the maximum punishment allowed by law.
Deshane abused the 14-year old victim along with her co-defendant, Gerald Vessels, who was previously sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The victim told a friend who then reported the abuse to the school counselor and the Blanco County Sheriff’s Department. At trial the jury heard compelling testimony from the victim, who described the abuse in detail. The jury also heard testimony from a forensic interviewer with the Hill Country Child Advocacy Center who specializes in interviewing children who are the victims of crime.
Assistant District Attorneys Kelly Bazie and Michael Walker presented the case for the State. In addition to the child victim and community partners from the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center, witnesses included the child’s friend and the friend’s mother, who alerted the authorities, members of the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office, a school counselor with the Blanco Middle School, and a CASA volunteer. The Defendant was represented by attorney Ross Lavin.
