by | Published
SAN MARCOS, Texas - A former Jack in the Box manager who prosecutors said used his position to gain the trust of vulnerable teenage employees before sexually assaulting them has been sentenced to consecutive life terms in Hays County.
Reginald Clifton, 41, received life sentences on four separate sex offense convictions during an Aug. 10 sentencing hearing before Hays County District Judge Alicia Key, according to the Hays County Criminal District Attorney's Office.
Judge Key ordered three of the life sentences to run concurrently and the fourth to run consecutively, effectively giving Clifton two consecutive life sentences.
A Hays County jury convicted Clifton on June 15 following a six-day trial. He was found guilty of sexual assault, sexual performance by a child, attempted aggravated sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault.
Evidence presented at trial showed Clifton was working as a manager at a Jack in the Box restaurant in Kyle when he hired teenage girls whom prosecutors described as vulnerable.
According to prosecutors, Clifton gained the trust of the young women and, in some instances, their families. He also provided them with alcohol both at work and away from the restaurant as part of conduct prosecutors said culminated in sexual offenses.
The indictment involved three young women who were 17 and 18 years old when the assaults occurred.
During the punishment phase, prosecutors presented evidence that Clifton had previously begun a relationship with a 16-year-old female employee. After that relationship ended, prosecutors said he began targeting other teenage female employees.
Evidence also showed Clifton committed domestic violence against two other women during the same general period as the sexual assaults.
Clifton's previous criminal record was also presented during sentencing.
According to the District Attorney's Office, his prior convictions included assault, assault on a peace officer, retaliation, robbery and aggravated robbery.
Prosecutors said Clifton shot a man during the aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2009.
Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Ashley Indelicato and Shelby Griffin prosecuted the latest case.
“The jury’s guilty verdicts told the defendant they saw him for who he is, a predator and a rapist,” Indelicato said. She said the verdicts also demonstrated to the survivors that they had been heard and believed.
Griffin credited the young women for coming forward and continuing to participate in the case, saying the sentence demonstrated that Hays County would not tolerate sexual predators who target vulnerable teenagers.
Officers with the San Marcos and Kyle police departments worked on the investigation, with Detectives Elrod and Carrasco serving as lead investigators.
The prosecution team also included Victim Assistance Coordinator Angela Brant, Digital Media Evidence Legal Assistants Kendall Evans and Tenzin Paa, Law Clerk Brody Burleson and Assistant District Attorney Christopher Powell.
With the fourth life sentence ordered to begin consecutively to the other three concurrent life terms, Clifton faces the remainder of his life in prison under the sentence imposed by the court.
