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Four sentenced to life in sex cases
By Dan Eakin, deakin@starlocalnews.com
Collin County juries have been busy during April hearing numerous sexual assault cases, including cases involving crimes against children.
Four men, after being found guilty, have been sentenced to life in prison.
Cedric Derrell Millage, 38, last week was convicted by a jury of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old female more than 11 years ago and sentenced to life in prison by District Judge John Roach of the 296th District Court.
Testimony revealed that Millage, who was 6-feet-8-inches tall and weighed more than 300 pounds, fractured the woman's cheek and twisted her hand until it broke. He attempted to get her inside his own vehicle but threw her down after she struggled and fought with him. Before he left the scene, he struck her and choked her, according to testimony.
Six years later, Millage was identified through a DNA match. Before being identified as the assailant in this case, he had gone to prison twice for burglary of a habitation and assault on a public servant. His trips to the penitentiary resulted in his DNA being added to a law enforcement data base.
His sexual assault trial began Monday, April 16, and concluded last Thursday.
The Collin County District Attorney's Office's Crimes Against Children Division also prosecuted three cases earlier this month that ended with the defendants being sentenced to life in prison.
Stacy Eugene Ervin, 44, of Nevada, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday, April 16, by retired District Judge Keith Dean, following a jury trial that had taken place the previous week.
Ervin was convicted of sexual assault of a child after testimony revealed that he had sexually assaulted his girlfriend's sister who was 16 at the time of the offense. Prior to the assault, the defendant had exposed himself to the same victim, resulting in an additional charge of indecency with a child by exposure. Ervin was also sentenced to the 20-year maximum on that charge.
John Schomburger of the district attorney's office said prosecutors Shannon Miller and Crystal Levonius proved Erwin was previously convicted in Dallas County on charges of sexually assaulting his underage cousin.
Because of the previous conviction, Schomburger said, Ervin was subject to automatic life punishment in the Collin County case.
Also, earlier this month a jury convicted Juan Vasquez, 38, of Allen of continuous sexual abuse of a child and sentenced him to life in prison. Vasquez was convicted of sexually abusing a victim from the time she was 7 years old until she was 15 years old.
Also earlier this month, a jury convicted Michael Garcia, 29, of sexually abusing a child from the time she was 8 until she was 10 years old, between Sept. 15, 2007 and Jan. 15, 2009.
Defendants have the right to choose whether to be sentenced by a jury or a judge.
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