Attorney General Jon Bruning

News Release

                        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   Contact: Holley Hatt

                        June 20, 2007 2:00pm CDT                                                     402.471.2067

Alliance Man Given 45 to 50 Years in Prison

for Sexual Assault of Step-daughter

(Lincoln, NE) Attorney General Jon Bruning today announced that Dennis Hernandez, 36, of Alliance, was sentenced to consecutive sentences of 45 to 50 years in prison for first degree sexual assault of a child and 20 months to five years in prison for visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct. He was sentenced today in Box Butte County District Court.

“Mr. Hernandez has a sick habit, and he used his step-daughter to satisfy it,” Bruning said. “Our kids are safer now that he’s behind bars, and he’ll be there for a long time.”

On Feb. 13, 2006, Alliance Police seized Hernandez’s computer from his home while responding to a domestic disturbance call. Hernandez and his wife had been fighting over e-mails she discovered from Hernandez to her daughter. The e-mails contained sexually explicit language and references to sexual activity between the father and step-daughter since the girl was 12. In addition, investigators found child pornography on Hernandez’s computer and evidence that he had paid to access several child pornographic Web sites.

On April 3, Hernandez pleaded guilty to the charges. First degree sexual assault of a child is a class II felony, and visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct is a class IV felony.

Box Butte County Attorney K.J. Hutchinson and the Attorney General’s Criminal Bureau Chief John Freudenberg handled the case.

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