NEW BOSTON, Texas -- A jury of seven men and five women was selected Tuesday to decide the fate of a man accused of sexually abusing four girls in Bowie County.
Jorge Pina-Salazar, 43, is facing multiple felony charges including two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14. If convicted of continuous sexual abuse, he faces 25 to 99 years or life in prison with no possiblity for parole.
The jury was instructed by 202nd District Judge John Tidwell to return to the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston for opening statements and witness testimony Wednesday morning.
According to probable cause affidavits, the alleged victims are now teens, and some described sexual abuse beginning as young as 3 and 5 years of age.
Pina-Salazar is represented by Dallas lawyer Mitchell Dooley. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards are prosecuting.
An interpreter will sit with Pina-Salazar throughout the trial, translating English testimony into his native Spanish. Other witnesses are expected to require interpreters, as well.
Pina-Salazar is currently being held in the Bowie County jail with bails totaling $800,000.