A Houston child molester was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday for sexually assaulting four girls, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“Every adult in a child’s life has to stay vigilant because predators like this man lie, mislead and trick whomever they can in order to get close to children,” Ogg said. “This man stole the childhood from these girls, and the law rightfully puts him prison without the chance of parole to serve every day of a 40-year sentence.”

Alvaro Jeronimo Juarez, 32, was sentenced by a judge after a jury convicted him of continuous sexual assault of a child for raping a 5-year-old many times beginning in 2009. Three other victims testified that Juarez raped them as well. Typically, he began assaulting the girls at age 5, and it went on until they were about 10.

Juarez was a friend and sometimes housemate to a large extended family and took advantage of the trust the adults placed in him. He spent years grooming, assaulting and intimidating the children.

Assistant District Attorneys Dana Nazarova and Alyson Almaguer, who are both chief prosecutors, handled the case. The Houston Police Department conducted the investigation.

“He had special ways to groom the children, like doling out their favorite snacks,” Nazarova said. “And then he had ways to scare them, like using a phony badge.”

She noted that when the first victim came forward in 2018, the other victims broke their silence about what had been happening to them.

“During the punishment phase, we talked about how each and every person in the whole family will suffer from this, and each child will be affected by this for the rest of their lives,” Nazarova said. “We thank the jury for making the right decision.”