Man who fathered his adopted daughter’s three children after repeated rapes pleads guilty

Both Laura and Eusebio Castillo had faced charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony.

Both Laura and Eusebio Castillo had faced charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony. Photo: Bexar County Jail Photo: Bexar County Jail Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Man who fathered his adopted daughter’s three children after repeated rapes pleads guilty 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

A man accused of repeatedly raping his adopted daughter over 15 years with the help of his wife and fathering three of the young girl’s children has agreed to plead guilty in the hopes of not going to prison for the rest of his life.

Eusebio Castillo, 48, is accused along with his wife, Laura A. Castillo, 47, of sexually assaulting their adopted daughter and niece, Abigail Alvarado, leading to the birth of three children whom the couple raised to think Alvarado was their older sister.

Eusebio Castillo, who was an Army sergeant, was set to go to trial this week in the 187th state District Court, but he decided to enter an open plea without a set sentence. He elected to let state District Judge Joey Contreras decide punishment, which could be up to life in prison. He will have a pre-sentencing hearing Oct. 23.

ON THE EXPRESS-NEWS: After adopted parents' arrest, S.A. woman shares horrific story of 15+ years of sexual abuse

He remains in Bexar County Jail, where he was diagnosed with cancer after his arrest last year.

Laura Castillo pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated sexual assault and was sentenced to 33 years in July. She is now in state prison.

Rudy Alvarado, Abigail’s husband, said he and his wife are exhausted but relieved to avoid a lengthy trial.

“(Abby) is just really, really happy that it’s all coming to an end,” he said. “It’s taken so long, and we didn’t expect the plea today. We thought it was going to trial.”

At a hearing Friday, Eusebio Castillo had been “stubborn,” Rudy Alvarado said, vowing to take the case to trial. But at Monday’s hearing, Castillo’s lawyer approached the prosecutor and said his client wanted to make a plea agreement.

RELATED: Court documents say man sexually assaulted relative since age 9, fathered 3 of her children

With both Castillos now facing multiple decades in prison, the Alvarados say justice has been served.

“That’s what we wanted. They need to be in prison so they don’t take advantage of other people and hurt them,” Rudy Alvarado said.

The investigation into the Castillos began in 2014 when Abigail Alvarado informed police of the abuse, which she said began at age 9 when Eusebio Castillo adopted her.

The abuse started as molestation but progressed to rape when Laura Castillo was no longer able to bear children, court records indicate. Alvarado said she was forced into group sex with her adopted parents, who used her as a surrogate mother. DNA tests would later confirm that Eusebio Castillo and Abigail Alvarado were the biological parents of the three children, all of whom thought Laura Castillo was their mother and Abigail Alvardo was their sister, according to records.

Alvarado, now 29, said that the Castillos brainwashed and threatened her into silence. According to an arrest affidavit, Eusebio Castillo on one occasion became frightened that she would report his abuse to authorities, so he doused himself and his house in gasoline and threatened to burn everything down, including her children.

Alvarado eventually notified police of the abuse in 2014 after she met her future husband, Rudy, who convinced her she needed to escape. After the police report, the Castillos fled to the Rio Grande Valley, where they were arrested in San Juan in early 2017.

Elizabeth Zavala is a courts and crime reporter in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863