An Austin man has pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a disabled person and was sentenced to ten years deferred adjudication, a form of probation, in an attack on a 14-year-old autistic boy at the Montopolis Recreation Center.
Senior state District Judge Wilford Flowers sentenced Robert Ayala, 50, (pictured) last week under a plea bargain with prosecutors. If Ayala, who must register as a sex offender for life, violates the terms of his probation, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutor Allison Benesch said she believes that the sentence protects the community. She noted that Ayala once suffered a serious head injury and is confined to a wheel chair and that the terms of his probation require him to be accompanied by a probation department approved chaperone whenever he is in public, to complete sex offender therapy and to stay away from the boy and from the recreation center where the attack occurred. She said the victim and his mother agreed with the disposition.
The boy had been swimming at the recreation center in Southeast Austin on June 26, 2010, when he went into the restroom, an arrest affidavit said. Ayala followed him in and locked the door before sexually assaulting him, the affidavit said.
