Victim recants child abuse allegations vs. former SA police officer

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The latest possible Texas innocence case to make the news involved an ex-cop convicted of child molestation. A victim recantation calls into question the sexual-assault conviction of a former San Antonio police officer, the SA Express-News reported ("After 13 years in prison, ex-cop may be innocent," Nov. 3). The article opened:

For the past 13 years, retired San Antonio Police Officer Frank Navarijo, 73, has sat in prison — serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of repeatedly raping a 5-year-old female relative.

Friday, his accuser recanted. For now, Navarijo remains in Bexar County Jail.

The now 20-year-old Texas State University student's outcry and subsequent testimony during the 1999 trial were lies fed to her by her manipulative grandmother, the woman testified Friday as Navarijo's attorneys asked state District Judge Maria Teresa Herr to recommend that the jury verdict be overturned.

Herr is not expected to issue a recommendation for months to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which will ultimately decide the matter.

“I just wanted to set the record straight,” the woman said. “For whatever reasons, which I do not know, she (the grandmother) hated (Navarijo). She did have a fair amount of control over me.

“From what I remember, she ... would basically sit there and tell me, ‘This is what (Navarijo) did to you,'” the woman continued. “It happened gradually, over time as I grew up.”

Yikes! An ex-cop convicted of child molestation wouldn't have had an easy time in prison. Definitely a habeas petition and possible innocence case to watch in the coming year. See the full story for more details.