Houston man gets 55 years in a cold-case gang rape

Woman who came to town for rodeo was assaulted by 4 men in field after carjacking

A Houston man was sentenced this week to 55 years in prison for his role in a gang rape 18 years ago of a Port Arthur woman who was in town for the rodeo, prosecutors said Friday.

Wilber Ulises Molina, 38, was sentenced Thursday after being convicted of aggravated sexual assault in a four-day trial in state District Judge Ramona Franklin’s court. He will be eligible for parole in 22 years.

“To the perpetrators of these horrific crimes, we will find you, we will prosecute you, and you will spend many years in prison,” prosecutor Christopher Handley said in a news release.

The woman was carjacked at gunpoint in February 2000, blindfolded and driven to a field, where she was raped by four men, including Molina.

Before leaving her in her Acura sedan, the woman’s attackers put the vehicle up on blocks and stole the the wheel rims and tires. Molina did not testify in the trial and has refused to reveal the identities of the others involved in the attack, prosecutors said.

The cold case was rekindled in 2013 by the Houston Police Department after Molina was convicted of aggravated assault in a road-rage incident and sentenced to five years in prison. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice collected his DNA, and a database determined Molina’s DNA was a 1 in 3.9 quadrillion match, authorities said.

Defense attorney Mario Madrid said he had doubts about the veracity of the DNA results because the original sample came from the long-troubled and now-shuttered Houston Police crime lab. He said he did not get to cross-examine the original analysts.

“There’s a strong case for an appeal because potentially tainted DNA was allowed into evidence without giving the defense the opportunity to crossexamine the analysts who produced the evidence,” he said.

The victim, who returned to Houston to testify against Molina, said she had found peace in spite of the brutal attack and had advice for other victims.

“The most important thing is the healing,” she said, according to a news release. “Regardless of whether they get caught or not, heal yourself and the rest will happen as it should.”