An El Paso man has been given a staggering 170-year prison sentence for child sexual abuse charges. Edward Alvarado, found guilty on three counts, received the sentence on Friday, following a conviction for crimes dating back to 2016. As reported by KFOX-TV, the sentencing was broken down to 50 years for the first charge, 75 for the second, and 45 years for the third, all to be served consecutively.
After being on the run since 2017, Alvarado was arrested in Jimenez, Chihuahua by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, in collaboration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to KTSM. Initially booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility under a $300,000 bond, his arrest followed a lengthy pursuit since he fled the U.S. His flight from justice, having stretched before the eyes of the law's reaching grasp, delayed the legal proceedings against him.
Charges against Alvarado included continuous sexual assault of four children. The severity of the crimes had been the focus of a "Borderland Crimes" episode earlier this year. In a painful recount of the years passed, one of Alvarado's victims described the protracted journey toward justice as "agonizing." As KVIA reports, the now 17-year-old victim, who was just a child of five at the time of the assaults, has endured waiting for justice to be served while entwined in the justice system's bureaucracy.
The jury deliberation concluded Alvarado's fate after a three-and-a-half-week trial that commenced on August 14. Convicting him of the heinous acts he perpetrated against the children, before being sentenced, the prolonged process finally promises some measure of closure to the victims and their families. "The wait for justice had been agonizing," the victim said, as per KVIA.
