LIBERTY - Jurors took less than 10 minutes on Wednesday to hand a life sentence to Jared Len Cruse, who shook his head and dabbed his eyes with tissue after being convicted of participating in the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl.

Convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child in concert with others, the 20-year-old will not be eligible for parole.

Also on Wednesday, the Houston Chronicle learned that the Cleveland girl at the center of the gang rape that captured national attention was the victim of another sexual assault in Jefferson County.

According to investigators there, the assault occurred Dec. 12, 2011, when the girl ran away from Girls' Haven in Beaumont. She had been placed there after Child Protective Services removed her from her Liberty County home for her protection when the 2010 gang rapes were under investigation.

"But then she ran away from the home with another girl. Both were on the streets for about a week," Jefferson County prosecutor Ed Schettle said Wednesday.

At some point, she encountered 30-year-old Jacobi Gilbert, who had a prior conviction as a drug dealer in Fort Bend County. He assaulted her at his apartment in Beaumont and then pleaded guilty in September to aggravated sexual assault of a child in exchange for deferred probation, Schettle said.

'No choir boy'

Liberty County authorities view the rapes in Cleveland as more flagrant than the Jefferson County assault because of the number of men and boys involved and because the crimes also were videotaped.

Prosecutors had requested a life sentence for Cruse, stressing how he was "no choir boy." Shortly after being released on bail in the gang rape case, he robbed a convenience store and later shot a girl in the arm during a home invasion. He is serving an eight-year sentence for these two crimes that occurred in neighboring San Jacinto County.

Cruse is only the second of 20 males who have been charged in the girl's rape to be tried in Liberty County. The first, Eric McGowen, received a 99-year sentence. Of those remaining, seven juveniles received probated sentences; six adults received 15-year sentences in exchange for guilty pleas and agreeing to testify against their peers; and five are awaiting trial.

After the life sentence was issued Wednesday, State District Judge Mark Morefield said, "Everyone loses in cases like this. It's sad for the victim, community and young defendants. But this kind of conduct cannot go unnoticed and unpunished."

Didn't know age

Prosecutors described Cruse as one of a "pack of dogs" who gang-raped the girl; the defense likened her to a "spider" who lured men into her web.

In closing remarks on Wednesday, the defendant's attorney, Steve Taylor, reminded jurors that the victim had admitted being a "willing participant" but that prosecutors will "tell you the law doesn't care … off with their heads!"

He questioned whether the law can be that absolute.

"People don't come with signs telling their age," Taylor said. "How does a young man know? You can't cut off their legs and count the rings like a tree."

Prosecutors countered that the law provides no excuse for sex with children. Because the assault was videotaped, the only defense Cruse can raise is say to say it's her fault, prosecutor Joe Warren said.

"Look at how proud he is on that video as his buddies say 'beat that ho,' " Warren said.

cindy.horswell@chron.com