PHOENIX – Seventeen years after he engaged in sexual acts with a 13-year-old boy, Arthur Rey Juarez (D.O.B. 7/20/1970) is in the custody of the Arizona Department of Corrections where he will serve a 33-year sentence. His crimes occurred between 1998 and 2000 and were reported to police but not fully investigated until 2013 as a result of efforts by the Phoenix child crimes task force. Juarez will be placed on lifetime probation following his release from prison.
“The victims in this case have waited a long time to see this defendant brought to justice for the terrible physical and emotional harm he caused them,” said Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery. “His sentence reflects the appropriately severe punishment Arizona law provides for those who seek to sexually violate a defenseless child,” he added.
Juarez, a 25-year Parks and Recreation employee, was originally charged with multiple sex offenses involving three victims from the same family, two of whom were brothers and the third a male cousin. Initial reports that Juarez had engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with two of the victims were made in 2001 but not investigated. In 2013, the Phoenix child crimes task force re-opened the case and developed information that Juarez had committed multiple sexual offenses against the two brothers and their cousin during a period when he coached them in soccer and wrestling and frequently had them over to his house. All three of the victims were under the age of 15 at the time.
On April 3, 2013, the Grand Jurors of Maricopa County indicted Juarez on four counts of child molestation, two counts of sexual abuse and one count of attempted molestation. The two sexual abuse counts were later dismissed due to the statute of limitations. On April 18, 2015, after a seven day trial, Juarez was found guilty on three of the counts relating to one of the victims and acquitted on the remaining two counts relating to the other two victims.
Judge Pamela Svoboda sentenced Juarez to lifetime probation for the attempted molestation count and 15 years for the molestation count to be served consecutively to an 18-year term for the sexual conduct with a minor. Due to the nature of his offenses, Juarez will not be eligible for early release.
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