COURTS

Man sentenced to 20 years in prison for inappropriately touching teen

Gabriel Monte
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
The Lubbock County Courthouse.

A 35-year-old registered sex offender from Pecos was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison after he admitted to inappropriately touching a teenage girl in Lubbock last year.

Bryan Palacios pleaded guilty to a count of indecency with a child by sexual contact.

Palacios entered his plea by video conference from the Lubbock County Detention Center where he's been held since his Feb. 20, 2021 arrest.

Bryan Palacios

His charge stems from a Lubbock police investigation that began after a neighbor called 911 to report a civil disturbance, officials said.

Responding officers found a woman hitting a man, later identified as Palacios. The woman told police that she just leaned Palacios was caught touching her daughter inappropriately, according to court records.

The girl's friend told police she saw Palacios molest the girl after he and the girl used drugs. The friend said she told another adult in the home about the abuse and the girl was taken from the house and brought to her mother's workplace, court documents state.

Palacios reportedly denied abusing the girl, saying he was under the influence of drugs and requested to be seen by EMS, who arrived on scene and cleared him to be taken to the jail.

Indecency with a child by sexual contact typically carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison. However, Palacios' prior conviction for the same charge in 2010 meant prosecutors could have enhanced his punishment had the case gone to trial and would have resulted in an automatic life sentence if a jury convicted him.

In 2010 Palacios was convicted of inappropriately touching a 14 year old girl, according to the Texas Public Sex Offender Website.

Palacios was a registered sex offender out in Pecos. However, he didn't inform officials there that he was in Lubbock, which resulted in a failure to register as a sex offender charge that is pending in Pecos County.