Ex-police chief in Cut and Shoot, TX pleads guilty to sexually assaulting children from 1998 to 2004

CUT AND SHOOT, Texas (KTRK) -- A former assistant police chief from Cut and Shoot, Texas, a city about 40 miles north of Houston, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing children for decades.

Norman Wilkerson, Jr. pled guilty last week to four cases of sexual abuse of children between the ages of 10 and 16 between 1998 and 2004, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett W. Ligon said.

When charges were filed, Wilkerson was the Assistant Chief of Police at the Cut and Shoot Police Department, the DA said.

"I suspect this man thought he would never be accountable for his crimes, but justice, though it came slowly, came with certainty. I suspect he also believed that his position in law enforcement would somehow protect him, but now he knows that no occupation of any kind will ever excuse the execution of justice when it arrives," Ligon said.

SEE ORIGINAL REPORT: Cut and Shoot assistant police chief accused of sexually assaulting a child

The investigation began after an anonymous letter detailing the abuse and inappropriate actions towards children by Wilkerson was sent to multiple law enforcement agencies.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said it was able to locate the victims across the country to confirm the decadeslong sexual abuse.

After Wilkerson was arrested on three counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, additional victims came forward.

Prosecutors said they consulted with the victims during the two years following Wilkerson's arrest, and on Monday, after decades, multiple victims were there to see him taken into custody.

"For decades, these victims wondered if a police officer in such a position of power would ever pay for what he did to them as children," Chief Prosecutor Lisa Stewart said. "Now, as they described, they can finally live their lives free of the fear that he will be hurting more children."