Abilene Man Gets 18 Years For Sexually Abusing Pflugerville Boy

TRAVIS COUNTY, TX — A man from Abilene, Texas, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the aggravated sexual assault of a 13-year-old Pflugerville boy, the district attorney's office said on Friday.

The plea agreement was reached in the case against Jonathan G. Sivley, 29, before Judge Cliff Brown in 147th District Court on Thursday, the Travis County District Attorney's Office said.

In 2018, prosecutors said, the boy’s stepfather found a sex toy in the child’s bedroom. When questioned, the boy told his parents Sivley had given it to him before his outcry that Sivley had sexually abused him. The victim also disclosed when he was 12, Sivley started buying him presents and giving him money in exchange for nude photos and videos.

The boy’s family contacted the Pflugerville Police Department after which detectives discovered Sivley had manipulated and pressured the boy by texting him through an app from several different phone numbers while pretending to be other people. Sivley would persuade the child to send more photos or videos by making threats that if he didn’t, prosecutors said, his parents would find out.

Sivley met the victim at an apartment complex where the boy’s biological father resided, officials said. Sivley lived with the boy’s father for a short period of time and became friends with the family as a result, prosecutors added.

With the assistance of the Abilene Police Department, Pflugerville Police did a thorough investigation, which led to the discovery of more than one thousand images and videos of child pornography in Sivley’s possession. Sivley was arrested on Feb. 23, 2018, in Abilene and extradited to Travis County.

Travis County Assistant District Attorney Amber Platt expressed hope that having reached a plea agreement will avoid a trial, enabling the young victim to heal and move forward with his life. “There is no sentence that will erase what this child and his family have suffered and how this will affect him the rest of his life," Platt said. "I am so proud of this young man for having the courage to tell the truth and to finally be able to see that this is not his fault."