Tarrant jury sentences man to probation for sexual assault

A Tarrant County jury recommended a sentence of 10 years’ probation Friday for an Arlington man whom they had convicted of sexually assaulting a drugged woman.

The sexual assault was videotaped and posted on Facebook.

State District Judge George Gallagher imposed the probation sentence but then revoked the defendant’s probation on a previous gun charge, according to an official with the Tarrant County district attorney’s office.

Christian Fuentes, 21, was taken into custody and sentenced to five years in prison, with one year’s credit for time served, the DA’s office said in a news release.

Tarrant County prosecutors Lucas Allan and Michele Hartman presented evidence at trial that Fuentes, the woman and two other men met at Fuentes’ residence on Dec. 29, 2013, and drank beers and took Xanax, the release said.

The woman was also given a powder to inhale, it said.

The woman testified that her last memory was of the four of them sitting in a bedroom with both a queen-size and a twin bed. The next morning, she woke up nude with the men lying around her in various states of undress, the release said.

The woman asked what had happened and one man told her that all three men had sex with her, the release said.

The woman left the residence. A friend later told her that a video of the sex had been posted on Facebook, the release said. The video, as well as a recovered photo, showed Fuentes performing sex acts on the unconscious woman, the release said.

After learning of the video, the woman and her friend filed a report with the Arlington Police Department. She also reported that she could not find her bank debit card.

Fuentes later admitted stealing the debit card with the intent to steal from her account, the release said.

Two co-defendants are awaiting trial on charges of improper photography and visual recording, and credit or debit card abuse.

“It’s a horribly sad situation all the way around,” Allan said. “Everyone walks out of the courtroom today a loser … but we hope the guilty verdict sends a message to all sexual assault survivors past, present and future that we will aggressively advocate on their behalf.”

Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson praised the woman for her bravery.

“It’s sobering that even today with all we know, too often the survivor is still the one being blamed,” Wilson said. “It takes courage for a survivor to open herself up to potential moral attack by prosecuting her attacker. The more these cases are prosecuted, the more we have the opportunity to change people’s minds about the reality of sexual assault in our society.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Tarrant jury sentences man to probation for sexual assault."