Staff report

A Jefferson County jury Wednesday found Juan Manuel Alameda Fernandez, 57, guilty of indecency with a child by exposure, a third-degree felony.

Judge John Stevens will sentence Fernandez on April 8, after a pre-sentence investigation. Criminal District Attorney Bob Wortham announced the verdict.

Two female victims, 9 and 12, were attempting to catch stray cats in their neighbor’s front yard when they heard Fernandez call to them from inside his bedroom window. When the girls looked, they saw Fernandez naked, masturbating and making eye contact with them, they said.

The children then told their neighbor, who immediately notified the victims’ parents and law enforcement. The victims were forensically interviewed at The Garth House in Beaumont, and provided consistent details about the incident.

Upon investigation, it was revealed that Fernandez had previously offered the victims food and jewelry.

Fernandez also asked one of the girls to call him and provided her a note with his phone number.

The Grand Jury indicted Fernandez on Aug. 8 and the case was tried in the Criminal District Court of Jefferson County. The jury deliberated for 10 minutes before convicting Fernandez.

Detective Charles Duchamp of the Beaumont Police Department investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Tatiana Zelezniak.

The range of punishment two to 10 years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Fernandez’s prior drug-related felony conviction will increase his range of punishment up to 20 years, Wortham’s office said.