KAUFMAN — Calling him a "wolf in sheep’s clothing" and describing a "literal house of horrors" where children were raised, 489th District Court Judge Tracy Gray sentenced a Forney man to 198 years in Texas prison Friday following his conviction on two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Steven Boyd Wright, 54, was handed two consecutive 99-year prison terms—effectively ensuring he will spend the remainder of his natural life behind bars.
The sentence concluded a tense, week-long trial in Kaufman County that began with jury selection on Monday, moved to evidence on Thursday, and ended with the punishment phase on Friday afternoon.
A House of Horrors
The criminal investigation into Wright dates back to October 27, 2024, when Forney Police Department officers responded to Wright’s residence following a report of a sexual assault that had just occurred. Upon arrival, officers discovered several minors at the home, where Wright had been supplying them with alcohol.
Initial arrests were made for providing alcohol to minors, but the scope of the investigation expanded rapidly.
State prosecutors revealed during trial that Wright had supplied a minor with alcohol and cocaine before sexually assaulting them inside the home. As Forney police probed deeper, they uncovered evidence of systemic abuse and exploitation. Forensic testing, DNA evidence, toxicology reports, and testimony from both a Forensic Interviewer and a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) corroborated the victim's account.
The victim took the witness stand during the guilt-innocence phase to testify directly against Wright.
Prosecutors also called an additional witness who testified that Wright had sexually abused them as a child multiple times years prior to the October 2024 incident. Furthermore, the state introduced recorded jail phone calls in which Wright admitted to setting up hidden video cameras in rooms throughout his residence to secretly capture explicit images of minors.
Swift Deliberations and Sentencing
Following closing arguments in the guilt-innocence phase on Thursday, the jury of six men and six women required only one hour of deliberation before returning guilty verdicts on both counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Illustrating the heavy emotional weight of the trial, five members of the jury voluntarily returned to the courtroom on Friday afternoon to sit in the gallery and observe the formal sentencing phase.
During Friday's punishment proceedings, Assistant District Attorneys Alysia Huskey and Ashley Holman presented additional testimony regarding a third minor child living nearby who had been identified during the initial investigation by Forney PD. Defense attorney Tom Massar of Rockwall advocated for the defense throughout the trial.
When the sentencing phase concluded, Judge Gray chose to stack the two maximum 99-year terms sequentially rather than running them concurrently, bringing the total sentence to 198 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Before ordering Wright into custody to begin serving his term, Judge Gray addressed the courtroom directly, describing Wright as a "wolf in sheep's clothing" who raised children in a "literal house of horrors."
In a statement following the sentencing, Kaufman County Criminal District Attorney Erleigh Norville Wiley emphasized the permanent mark left on the young victims while praising the prosecution team and law enforcement response.
"No sentence can restore the innocence taken from these children or erase the harm they have endured," Wiley said.
Wright remains in the Kaufman County Jail awaiting transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
