50 years, no parole for Bernabe Mendiola

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- A Montgomery County jury has convicted Bernabe Mendiola, 53, of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young Child following a four-day trial in the 221st District Court. The Honorable Judge Lisa Michalk sentenced Mendiola to 50 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, without the possibility of parole.

Beginning in late 2020, Mendiola developed a relationship with a child and gained the child’s trust by becoming a father figure in the child’s life. Over the next several years, Mendiola exploited that trust to sexually abuse the child multiple times while the child was under the age of 14.

Mendiola also groomed the child to accept the abuse as normal, telling the child, “This is what dads do to their sons.” By exploiting the relationship he had deliberately cultivated, Mendiola used the child’s trust as a means to facilitate and conceal years of sexual abuse.

In 2023, the child’s mother noticed troubling changes in the child’s behavior, including sadness and anger. Convinced something was wrong, she refused to dismiss those changes. Her persistence ultimately brought the abuse to light and began the path that would lead to Mendiola’s prosecution.

Trial began August 17, 2026. On August 20, the jury found Mendiola guilty of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young Child. Judge Michalk sentenced him that same day to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Cassie Marchesani.

Assistant District Attorney Cassie Marchesani said, “For years, Mendiola worked to convince this child that what was happening to him was normal. It took extraordinary courage for this young boy to recognize that lie, speak the truth, and face the man who abused him. This sentence belongs, in no small part, to a child who found the courage to be heard.”

District Attorney Mike Holley said, “Mendiola did not simply betray a child’s trust. He deliberately built that trust and then weaponized it to sexually abuse a child for years. That is calculated, predatory behavior. I am grateful to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Children’s Safe Harbor, Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners, Bikers Against Child Abuse, and our prosecution team for the work that brought him to justice.”