Groesbeck Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Child Sexual Abuse Charges

A Limestone County jury convicted Josh Weibye of multiple child sexual abuse charges, resulting in a life sentence handed down by District Judge Amy Ward on April 4.

Weibye was found guilty of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child Under 14, Indecency with a Child by Sexual Contact, and Sexual Assault of a Prohibited Person. The jury’s verdict, delivered on February 28, 2025, convicted Weibye on all counts. After reviewing testimony and closing arguments from both the defense and the prosecution, Judge Ward issued the following sentences:

• Count 1: Continuous Sexual Assault of a Child Under 14 (1st-degree felony) – Life sentence
• Counts 3, 7, 9, and 10: Indecency with a Child by Sexual Contact (2nd-degree felony) – 80 years in prison, to be served after the life sentence.
• Count 11: Sexual Assault of a Prohibited Person (1st-degree felony) – 20 years in prison, to begin after the sentences in Counts 1, 3, 7, 9, and 10.

Groesbeck Police Chief Chris Henson expressed gratitude for the work done by various individuals and agencies involved in the case.

“We want to publicly thank Limestone County District Attorney Jeff Janes, Assistant District Attorneys Beth Toben and Hilary LaBorde, former District Attorney and current District Judge Roy Defriend, Limestone County Victim Services Coordinator Glyn Sloan, Texas Child Protective Services Investigator Theresa Shamblin, and the Advocacy Center for Crime Victims and Children for their efforts on behalf of the victim,” Henson said. “The punishment assessed by Judge Ward is to be commended, while it cannot restore the victim’s innocence or lost youth, it will hopefully provide some peace knowing that neither they nor any other child will be victimized by Joshua Weibye.”

Chief Henson also praised the efforts of the Groesbeck Police Department. “I want to thank the officers of the Groesbeck Police Department for their dedication and commitment to seeing this case through. There are many moving parts in a criminal case like this, and I am proud of the role we played.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Limestone County Attorney’s Office  

On April 4, 2025, Joshua Weibye, from Groesbeck, Texas, was sentenced to Life in Prison for Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young Child. He was also sentenced to 80 years in prison for each of four counts of Indecency with a Child, and 20 years in prison for Sexual Assault of a Child that the Defendant was prohibited from marrying. Judge Amy Ward of the 87th District Court ordered that the sentences be served consecutively, which means that the 80-year sentences are ”stacked” on top of the life sentence and that the 20-year sentence is “stacked” on top of the 80-year sentences.

In February 2025, a Limestone County jury was seated to decide if the 33-year-old Weibye, was guilty of sexually abusing a young girl. The State called about 15 witnesses during the trial. The defense called Weibye, his wife, his grandmother, and a couple of friends. The jury deliberated for bout two hours before finding the Defendant guilty. 

Testimony during the trial established that the Defendant, who had been in a relationship with the victim’s mother, knew the victim through her family, had been sexually abusing her since she was about five years old when they were living in Limestone and Freestone Counties. In 2020, she told her mother, but when the mother confronted the Defendant, he denied it so nothing changed. In 2021, when the victim was 12, the Defendant made her take home pregnancy tests because he realized that she might be pregnant. When the tests were positive, he researched how to cause an abortion but finally took her to an abortion clinic in Austin.

The clinic determined that the victim was 11 weeks pregnant but refused to do the procedure because the Defendant was not her parent. The appointment was rescheduled so she could come back with her mother. Even though the victim had repeated the story that the Defendant had instructed her to tell--that she had sex with an unknown 12-year-old boy—the clinic notified law enforcement because the girl was underage. Officers from the Austin Police Department responded and told the Defendant that they would be notifying the Groesbeck Police Department and instructed him to notify them as well.

When officers from the Groesbeck Police Department responded, they did not think the story about an unknown 12-year-old boy made sense. The victim could not give consistent information, and she did not have answers to many basic questions. They also learned that the victim’s mother did not know that she was pregnant or that the Defendant had taken the victim to get an abortion, which also caused them to be suspicious.

Law enforcement officers contacted Child Protective Services, who met with the mother, arranged for an interview with the child, and then helped the mother locate a safe place to have her children while law enforcement continued to investigate the case. Child Protective Services explained to the mother that the police wanted to do DNA on the fetus if she chose to have her daughter have an

abortion, or they wanted to do DNA on the baby if she chose to have her daughter have the baby. Child Protective Services and Law Enforcement arranged to have a medical exam done on the victim at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Waco and scheduled a meeting to meet with her about the next steps.

Prior to the meeting and before the medical exam, the mother quit responding to CPS and Groesbeck officers. She quit her job and disappeared, with her children. Child Protective Services and officers from the Groesbeck Police Department did an exhaustive search for the victim and her family before suspending the case. Even after the case was suspended, they were vigilant with the hope of finding the victim and finding out if she had the child.

In January of 2023, an uncle of the victim notified the Groesbeck Police that he had hired an attorney to help get the equivalent of an Amber Alert in Mexico. He said the mother had taken the victim to Mexico to get away from the police and that his family in Mexico had not seen her recently. Eventually, the police learned that the Defendant had gone to Mexico gotten the victim, and brought her back to the United States. In March, a neighbor of the Defendant’s in Groesbeck reported seeing a young girl in the backyard of the Defendant’s house. 

Groesbeck P.D. and CPS responded immediately and found the victim in the home and took custody of her because she did not have a legal guardian with her. Her mother was still in Mexico.

Through the investigation, officers learned that the mother had given the victim pills which caused her to lose the baby. She stayed with her mother and relatives in Mexico until a year and a half later when the Defendant went to Mexia got her and brought her back to Groesbeck. When she got back to Groesbeck, he did not sexually abuse her at first, but then it started again and continued until the police and CPS came and found her and placed her with relatives out of town.

During the trial, the victim described the sexual abuse and explained some of the emotional trauma that she has experienced because of the sexual abuse. She talked about her fear that he would come and get her and described an incident when he came to her school in far west Texas and tried to talk to her in the school office. She explained how she has lost her relationship with her mother because her mother does not believe her. 

The jury also heard from Sissy Roark, the Sexual Assault Nurse, who examined the victim after she was found in 2023, and Dr. Soo Battle, the Medical Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center. Chemists from the DPS crime lab explained the testing that was done on the Rape Kit samples collected by Nurse Roark. Dr. Lee Carter, a psychologist in Waco, helped the jury understand the psychological dynamics of child sexual abuse cases. Teresa Valero, the victim’s therapist, testified that the victim has PTSD and talked about some of the problems she has been having now and what problems she will likely have in the future. 

The Defendant denied that he had sex with the girl. He claimed that he had done nothing but help the mother with her children. The mother denied giving the victim pills and claimed she never knew for sure the victim was pregnant.  

After hearing the evidence, the jury found the Defendant guilty of all the charges submitted to the jury. The Defendant elected to have the judge assess his punishment, so Judge Amy Ward, who presided over the trial, scheduled a sentencing hearing for April 4, 2025.

At the sentencing hearing, the State proved that the Defendant had previously been convicted of Assault Family Violence by Impeding Breath, and two cases of Assault on a Public Servant and had been to prison on those charges. A relative of the victim who lives with her now testified that since the Defendant has been convicted in February, the victim has started coming out of her room more and being more willing to go and do things. Because she knows he is locked up, she is not as hypervigilant about locking doors and checking to make sure that they are not being followed. The victim testified that she is still in counseling. She explained that the Defendant did not use birth control regularly even after he got her pregnant and that she did not tell because she did not think that there was any way out of the situation. She also testified that one of the hardest parts to deal with is the abortion because she is Catholic and she hasn’t really started to process her feeling about that situation. The defense did not call any witnesses, as instructed by the Defendant.

Judge Ward found the Defendant’s prior convictions to be true which increased the punishment range for the Indecency counts from 2 to 20 years to 5 to 99 years  or Life, and the minimum punishment range for the Sexual Assault of a Prohibited Person from 5 years to 15 years, making the punishment range from 15 to 99 years or Life. Then Judge Ward sentenced the Defendant to Life in prison on the Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child. There is no parole for Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child so the Defendant will have to serve his sentence day for day the rest of his life. The Judge then assessed a punishment of 80 years for the four counts of Indecency and stacked that 80 years on top of the Life sentence on the Continuous Sexual Abuse in Count I. The Judge assessed a sentence of 20 years for the Sexual Assault with a Prohibited Person and stacked that sentence on top of the 80 years sentences for the Indecency with a Child counts.

The County Attorney’s office commends the officers of the Groesbeck Police Department and Child Protective Services who realized that the story about the victim having sex with an unknown 12-year-old boy was not the truth. We also commend them for never giving up their efforts to find this victim and this Defendant and help her tell the truth and escape from this situation.  

Assistant County Attorney Beth Toben, who prosecuted the case with Assistant County Attorney Hilary LaBorde, said, “It takes teamwork to stop child sexual abuse. I commend the many professionals who were a part of the team in this case. They saw what was really happening, even before the victim found the words to tell us, and they never gave up on their commitment to help her escape and tell the truth so he could be held accountable. I also commend the jury for having the insight to see the big picture and realize this is what child sexual abuse often looks like. This victim is blessed to have extended family that love her and never forgot her!”

County Attorney Jeff Janes said, “This case is a testament to what can happen when our community works together to hold a criminal accountable. I appreciate the jurors for having the courage to hear the evidence and deliver the proper verdict. It is obvious from Judge Ward’s strong punishment in this case that this type of behavior will not be tolerated in our community.