Fort Hood soldier sentenced for sexually assaulting multiple children

FORT HOOD, Texas (KWTX/Gray News) – A senior noncommissioned officer stationed at Fort Hood was sentenced this week after being found guilty of sexually assaults of two children, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel announced.

Sgt. Maj. Victor M. Rivera, 49, was assigned to Headquarters Company, 11th Corps Signal Brigade, III Armored Corps.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, in addition to a reduction in rank to E-1 and a dishonorable discharge from the Army.

The Army said Rivera began abusing a girl under 16 in 2019 while living in Harker Heights, Texas, near Fort Hood. Approximately a year later, he began abusing a younger victim who was under 12.

The victims told their mother about the abuse, and she reported Rivera to the Harker Heights Police Department in October 2020.

In 2025, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel (OSTC) notified the Bell County district attorney’s office of the intent to simultaneously prosecute Rivera. Bell County continued its case while awaiting resolution of the Army case.

Army CID investigators extracted forensic evidence from Rivera’s phone showing he frequently visited websites discussing the sexual abuse of minors.

This evidence, along with the testimony from both victims and their mother, was instrumental factors in convicting Rivera.

“The victims in this case waited a long time for justice. Despite the delays, frustrations, and other case complications, they persevered in the process, never faltering. This court-martial validated their trust in the military justice system,” said Maj. John Architzel, prosecutor, Fifth Circuit, Army OSTC.

Rivera will serve his confinement at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Upon release from prison, he will be required to register as a sex offender and will be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements.