A man from Texas facing allegations of repeatedly sexually assaulting a child has managed to evade prosecution on nine felony charges, following a plea agreement with a Travis County prosecutor reportedly backed by George Soros, as per recent reports.
According to Austin’s ABC affiliate KVUE, 37-year-old Richard Leigh Bell was initially facing nine felony indictments. These included a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, six counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and two counts of indecency with a child. However, these charges were dismissed under a plea bargain, allowing Bell to admit guilt to a single count of injury to a child, classified as a third-degree felony.
The agreement sentenced Bell to five years of deferred probation. Additionally, he is required to register as a sex offender and is prohibited from having contact with the victim, her family, or any minors, according to KVUE. The terms of the plea mean he will serve no jail time.
After the court proceedings on Monday, the victim’s father expressed to KVUE his shock at the outcome, stating that prosecutors Efrain De La Fuente and Lorraine Garcia did not involve him in plea negotiations.
Richard Leigh Bell, aged 37, accepted a guilty plea to a lesser felony charge, resulting in the dismissal of nine child sex abuse allegations as part of the plea agreement. (Rockbridge Regional Jail)
“I was furious to discover that this was not only our first and final plea agreement, but it was imposed regardless of my approval,” he remarked.
The father, who was not named to protect the victim’s identity, said he had expected a prison sentence for Bell.
“I think any parent would expect somebody to rot in jail for doing something like this,” he told KVUE. “As time went on, I expected a realistic plea deal to be years at least—long enough to serve some time in prison where you belong if you have successfully carried out pedophilic acts.”
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza poses in front of the Austin skyline in a portrait from the county website. Garza has faced criticism for accusations that he aggressively prosecutes police officers accused of wrongdoing while going easy on career criminals. (Travis County DA Website)
In Texas, deferred adjudication lets defendants avoid a conviction if they complete probation successfully, though any violation can trigger sentencing on the original charge. Bell’s probation conditions — including mandatory sex offender registration and no-contact restrictions — will remain in place for the entire five-year term.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza’s office and has not received a response.
Travis County, Texas District Attorney Jose Garza working as an activist in 2019. (Rick Kern/Getty Images for MoveOn.org Civic Action)
Garza, who took office in deep-blue Travis County in 2021 after a campaign backed by progressive billionaire Soros, pledged to “reimagine” criminal justice and prosecute police officers. He has defended his record as district attorney, saying he is “doing exactly what Travis County voters elected him to do — fixing our broken criminal justice system by standing with survivors, working to end the excessive use of force by police, and prioritizing treatment over incarceration for nonviolent drug offenses.”
Critics have argued that Garza’s office has failed to advocate for victims and has promoted policies that make the city less safe.
He has also faced scrutiny for aggressively prosecuting police officers in a city still divided over the council’s 2020 decision to cut police funding.
That tension came to a head in 2023, when Garza sparked outrage for appearing at the funeral of a fallen police officer — a move some called “a slap in the face.”
