On Thursday, January 16, 2025, pursuant to the jury’s verdict, Judge Allan Garrett sentenced Daneil Mathew Bible, also known as Mathew Bible, to incarceration in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for 20 years on each of two counts of the offense of Indecency With a Child by Sexual Contact. Then upon a motion by the prosecution stacked the sentences so the sentences run consecutively for a total of 40 years in prison. Bible will have to spend 20 years, day for day, before being eligible for parole. In addition, the jury returned a maximum fine of $10,000 for each county for a total of $20,000 in fines. The defendant was represented by Zachary Hudler of Johnson City in Blanco County. The case was prosecuted by Wiley “Sonny” McAfee working as a special prosecutor for District Attorney, Perry Thomas; Assistant District Attorneys (ADA’s) Camilla Cutbirth, and Kelly Bazie.
The trial began with jury selection on Monday, January 13, 2025 and concluded on Thursday, January 16, with the jury’s verdicts. The evidence at trial demonstrated that Bible had previously lived in the City of Blanco, in Blanco County, Texas. The indictment in this case charged Bible with touching the breasts and genitals of a girl under the age of 17 on or about January 1, 2011 in Blanco County. Evidence at trial also showed the child was actually around 5-6 years old and in the first grade at the time of the incident. The child was 16 when she finally told a friend what had happened to her when she was younger. The child’s friend told the victim’s mother, and the mother immediately took action the next morning by contacting law enforcement at Blanco Police Department. An investigation ensued and it was learned there were three other victims of abuse at the hands of the defendant over a period of time that spanned 30 years. Two of those persons testified at trial about the abuse to which they were subjected over a period of years. The third victim passed away before she was able to testify as to what happened to her when she was 12 years old in 1994 at the hands of the defendant. However, the defendant actually entered a plea of guilty to three offenses against that victim and was placed on 10 years of probation for the offenses against the now deceased victim. The judgment in that case listing the offenses and the plea of guilty to those offenses was admitted as evidence at the defendant’s trial.
The jury deliberated less than an hour before reaching a guilty verdict. The punishment phase of trial began shortly after the verdict, and the jurors sent out a note at one time during their deliberations which suggested they would like the sentences to run consecutively or one after the other. Again, jurors deliberated slightly less than an hour before reaching a unanimous verdict assessing the maximum punishment in prison along with a maximum fine on each offense. The judge immediately sentenced the defendant to 20 years on each offense, and agreed when the prosecution requested those cases be “cumulated” or stacked. Bible was 50 years old at the time of sentencing so he will not be eligible for parole until he is at least 70.
District Attorney Perry Thomas praised the work of the jury in arriving at their decisions on guilt and sentencing, saying, “It is very clear these jurors sent a message to Blanco County that sexual abuse of children would not be tolerated to any extent. They did a great job in having to listen to the horrible evidence in this crime and then deciding on such a strong sentence to hold Daneil Mathew Bible accountable for his crimes. Judge Garrett also made a huge statement in my opinion, by stacking the sentences and giving this man the maximum punishment the law allowed. Stacking sentences is solely within the discretion of the judge in a case like this, and Judge Garrett didn’t hesitate to show the defendant he would be held accountable for his conduct.
ADA Cutbirth said it was a long road to get here and she’s proud of the victims for sticking with us and believing in the prosecution team. She appreciates the jury for listening to the often times difficult evidence and handing down swift justice for these women.
Prosecutor McAfee said he appreciated the hard work of the jury as well. McAfee then added, “I can’t say enough about the courage of the two people that were previously sexually abused by Bible and the one victim that was described in this indictment. Those three women demonstrated they were not just victims but they were courageous survivors as well. Their courage in being able to get up in front of this jury and explain what happened to them decades ago was amazing and I am proud of each one of them. Additionally, the one person that was deceased and who wanted to testify at the trial but passed before the trial started was incredibly brave as well. I spoke with her last year, along with her mother, and she made it plain that she wished to testify, so the jury could know what happened to her back in 1994 and 1995. Her mother spoke on her behalf to the jury during trial and did an excellent job.”
McAfee also thanked the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center whose forensic interviewer recorded the initial outcry of the youngest victim in 2021. He said the interviewer did an exceptional job of asking questions in a nonthreatening manner that provided important information about how this offense occurred. ADA Cutbirth added that a counselor with the Children’s Advocacy Center “explained to the jury why many children do not outcry immediately, and the effects of trauma on children that are sexually abused.”
Evidence in the trial reflected that Victoria McMain, former Lieutenant with Blanco Police Department before joining the Attorney General’s office as an investigator, acted quickly when the mother contacted her about the offenses. She began an investigation that helped prosecutors locate information imperative to prosecution of the case. According to prosecutors in the case, the combined efforts of the women abused, the families involved, and law enforcement, the prosecution was able to present a comprehensive case that told the jury who this defendant was and some of the horrible things he has done over his lifetime. They said the jury followed through with the necessary verdicts and punishments to finally hold Bible accountable.