An Ector County on Thursday convicted an Odessa man accused of being a serial kidnapper and rapist and he’ll be spending the rest of his life in prison.
Javier Martinez Arias, 39, was convicted of two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count each of kidnapping, attempted aggravated sexual and sexual assault, said Ector County District Attorney Dusty Gallivan.
The jury sentenced him to life in prison on each of the aggravated accounts and 20 years in the Texas Department of Corrections on the remaining counts, Gallivan said.
According to his September 2022 indictment, Arias kidnapped one woman in April 2022 and two other women in July in order to sexually abuse the women. In each instance, Arias took the women “with the intent to prevent her liberation, by secreting or holding her in a place where she was not likely to be found.”
The first attack allegedly happened April 26 and the other two attacks reportedly occurred nine days apart in July.
Arias was indicted in January of this year on a sexual assault charge in connection with a fourth victim that was also victimized in July 2022 and that case was combined with the earlier case, Gallivan said.
Arias was arrested near Pagewood Avenue and University Boulevard shortly after one of the women reported she was almost raped at a location off South Grandview Avenue. Deputies pulled Arias over after spotting him in a car matching the suspect’s vehicle and he was positively identified as the suspect. During the course of their investigation, deputies learned of other victims.
Prosecutors Kortney Williams and Megan Wyatt represented the state and Arias was defended by Johanna Curry.
Judge Denn Whalen presided over the trial in the 70th District Court.
