Trevor Dylan Lehew, a former soldier assigned to Fort Bliss, Texas, was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for aggravated sexual abuse of a child. He was previously sentenced to 20 years in prison in Texas for a similar charge. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes )
A former soldier who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young child during his time assigned to Fort Bliss, Texas, was sentenced Tuesday to 35 years in federal prison, according to the Justice Department.
Trevor Dylan Lehew, 28, who left the Army in 2015 as a private first class, will serve the time after he completes a 20-year sentence in Texas for a separate incident involving sexual contact with a child and aggravated assault of a child.
The abuse at Fort Bliss, which is located near El Paso, occurred between 2014 and 2015 in a home on the Army post, according to court documents. The victim, who was 6 years old at the time, disclosed the abuse in 2020 to a forensic interviewer. Details about how Lehew knew the child were not included in publicly available court records.
“The child victim in this case was extremely courageous to come forward about the horrible acts that this defendant committed years prior,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas. “That disclosure led to a successful investigation by our partners at the FBI, which has now resulted in the lengthy imprisonment of a dangerous child predator with repeat offenses.”
The FBI investigated the case and Lehew was remanded into federal custody on Jan. 6, 2022, according to the Justice Department. He was already in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for the state conviction.
Lehew, who is from Plano near Dallas, pleaded guilty in August in federal court to one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
In the Texas case, Lehew took a plea agreement in 2020 for inappropriately touching an 8-year-old boy whom he was babysitting, according to Dallas County District Court records. The child reported the sexual contact to his father, who reported it to local police.
“A child should feel and be safe in their homes and community,” said Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Downey of the FBI El Paso Field Office. “I hope this sentencing brings some closure to the victims knowing this predator will be in federal prison for a very long time.”
Lehew enlisted in the Army in April 2013 as a wheeled vehicle mechanic, according to his service record. He was discharged in November 2015. The record does not state the nature of his discharge.
