Jury Sentences Sex Offender to 99 Years in Prison

CONROE, TX -- On Wednesday, March 10, 2021, a jury sentenced Defendant James Ray Bates, 65 to 99 years in prison for failing to comply with his sex offender registration requirements. The sentence followed a contested trial in the 221st District Court, the Honorable Judge Lisa Michalk presiding.

Prosecutors Kevin Bratcher and Rob Freyer presented evidence that Bates was unlawfully present at the Sacred Heart Catholic School on Friday, April 26, 2019. At the time, both students and teachers were outside the school building following a Friday morning Mass. As a registered sex offender, Bates knew that he was prohibited from entering school grounds and that should he do so, he would be guilty of committing a felony offense. Nevertheless, Bates walked through a line of students and approached a student’s father to ask for money for food. The father offered to provide Bates food directly, but Bates rejected the offer. Bates then began yelling and refused to leave. Fortunately, Conroe Police Department Officer Christenson was at Sacred Heart providing security for the students. Officer Christenson approached Bates. Officer Christenson arrested Bates when Bates produced his sex offender registration card as a means to identify himself.

Following a conviction by the jury for the offense of Failure to Comply With Sex Offender Registration Requirements, Assistant District Attorneys Kevin Bratcher and Rob Freyer presented evidence of the defendant's extensive criminal history and pattern of predatory behavior. The jury heard evidence that Bates went to prison on three separate occasions throughout the 1980's and 1990's. In 2001, Bates was convicted and sentenced to prison for aggravated sexual assault and burglary of a habitation in Tarrant County. These convictions required Bates to register as a sex offender for life. Sergeant Joe Hadley with the Fort Worth Police Department testified that Bates forced entry into a hospital room and sexually assaulted an elderly woman recovering from hip surgery. Officer Vazquez and Detective Minchew with the Conroe Police Department detailed their 2018 arrest and investigation of the defendant for breaking into an assisted living facility at one o'clock in the morning. The investigation revealed that Bates was in the apartments of two female residents. One resident was 103 years old, and the second resident was 93 years old. Lieutenant Stowe with the Conroe Police Department testified regarding his 2017 arrest of Bates for indecent exposure in the Hobby Lobby parking lot.

Assistant District Attorney Kevin Bratcher: 'We are very grateful for the attentiveness and swift actions of Officer Christenson in protecting the staff, children, and families of Sacred Heart Catholic School. The most vulnerable members of our community are safer now because of Officer Christenson. ADA Freyer and I also want to commend the hard work of Conroe Police Department and the Fort Worth Police Department for putting a dangerous predator where he belongs.
District Attorney Brett Ligon: 'On behalf of my office, I want to thank the jurors for doing their part to keep this community safe. Mr. Bates has shown us who he is, and now our community has shown him who we are. Mr. Bates will now be deservedly separated from the rest of us, and justly so.'