Christopher Joe Bradshaw, Sr. v. the State of Texas

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 31, 2026
Docket03-23-00356-CR
StatusPublished

This text of Christopher Joe Bradshaw, Sr. v. the State of Texas (Christopher Joe Bradshaw, Sr. v. the State of Texas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Christopher Joe Bradshaw, Sr. v. the State of Texas, (Tex. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-23-00356-CR

Christopher Joe Bradshaw, Sr., Appellant

v.

The State of Texas, Appellee

FROM THE 207TH DISTRICT COURT OF COMAL COUNTY NO. CR2019-435, THE HONORABLE DIB WALDRIP, JUDGE PRESIDING

OPINION

Bradshaw appeals his continuous sexual abuse of a young child conviction in four

issues. He argues (1) the State failed to adequately prove the abuse was continuous. And he argues

that the trial court erred in (2) assessing his sentence at automatic life imprisonment; (3) failing to

adequately charge the jury on the duration element of the offense; and (4) admitting extraneous-

offense evidence. Finding that the evidence was sufficient and that the trial court did not so err,

but finding that the judgment lists an incorrect enhancement statute subsection, we modify the

court’s judgment to list the correct enhancement statute subsection and affirm as modified. BACKGROUND

Bradshaw, C.B.’s 1 father, came to live with C.B., as well as C.B.’s mother,

stepfather, older brother, and baby sister, in a trailer in Comal County. C.B. was ten, about to turn

eleven at the time—the summer of 2018. Bradshaw slept in a room with C.B. (and sometimes his

older brother T.B.), on mattresses on the floor which had been pushed together. Bradshaw began

showing C.B. pornography and sexually abusing him. He did so in the bedroom, after waking

C.B. up, and he did so in the living room. In October 2018, Bradshaw moved back to Oklahoma

to marry his girlfriend Tabatha.

In early December 2018, Tabatha contacted C.B.’s mother to let her know she had

found disturbing images on Bradshaw’s Facebook accounts and was concerned about C.B. C.B.’s

mother then questioned C.B.; C.B. admitted that Bradshaw had sexually touched him but did not

elaborate. C.B.’s mother contacted the police, and C.B. was interviewed at the Child Advocacy

Center, where he made a full outcry that Bradshaw engaged him in masturbation, fondling, and

oral sex. He also drew a picture showing Bradshaw had ejaculated all over his and T.B.’s room

and the living room. As part of the investigation, police collected samples, but testing turned up

no semen. Bradshaw, when interviewed, admitted to possessing child pornography, and using it

to masturbate in the boys’ room when they were at school, but he denied abusing C.B.

Bradshaw was indicted for, among other things, continuous sexual abuse of a child.

At trial, C.B. testified. So did his interviewer at the Child Advocacy Center. Exhibits admitted

included a redacted video of Bradshaw’s statement, and evidence collected from Bradshaw’s gold

1 The child is referred to in one brief as C.W., and the other as W.C. The indictment and jury charge refer to the child as C.B., as do we, while recognizing that those initials do not comport to the child’s chosen name. See Tex. R. App. P. 9.10(a)(3) (providing privacy protection for sensitive data in criminal cases, including name of any person who was minor at time of offense). 2 Galaxy phone, which he had left behind in Comal County and which showed searches for and

downloads of pornography, including some apparent child pornography. Another exhibit

consisted of a judgment of conviction in Oklahoma for “lewd molestation,” an offense the trial

court found “substantially similar” to the Texas offense of indecency with a child by contact.

Bradshaw tried to discredit C.B., in part by pointing to the inconsistency between

C.B.’s drawing of Bradshaw’s ejaculate and the DNA test results. The jury convicted Bradshaw

who, because of that prior conviction from Oklahoma, was sentenced to automatic life in prison.

ANALYSIS

Sufficiency to Prove the Abuse Was Continuous

Bradshaw argues there is no way the abuse was continuous (lasting at least 30 days)

because (1) Bradshaw did not arrive in Comal County until June 16, 2018; (2) C.B. testified that

he was 10 when the abuse occurred; and (3) C.B. turned 11 on June 19, 2018.

Applicable Law and Standard of Review

The due process guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that a conviction

be supported by sufficient evidence. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 315–16 (1979). In

assessing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction, “we consider all the

evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and determine whether, based on that evidence

and reasonable inferences therefrom, a rational juror could have found the essential elements of

the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Hooper v. State, 214 S.W.3d 9, 13 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007).

“This familiar standard gives full play to the responsibility of the trier of fact fairly to resolve

conflicts in the testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable inferences from basic

facts to ultimate facts.” Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319.

3 Application

A person commits an offense of continuous sexual abuse of a young child if during

a period that is 30 or more days in duration, the person commits two or more acts of sexual abuse

(including indecency with a child by the sexual conduct of touching the child’s genitals) and at the

time of the commission of each of the acts of sexual abuse, the actor is 17 years of age or older

and the victim is a child younger than 14 years of age, regardless of whether the actor knows the

age of the victim at the time of the offense. Tex. Penal Code §§ 21.02, .11. Bradshaw only

complains about the sufficiency of the evidence to prove the duration element.

As Bradshaw recognizes, the parties agreed that he arrived in Comal County

“no sooner than June 16, 2018,” and that C.B. turned eleven on June 19, 2018. To prove that the

alleged abuse could only have taken place during those four days, Bradshaw points to the

following testimony:

Q. How often did that happen, [C.B.]?

A. Not too often.

Q. Okay. Do you remember the first time?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you remember how old you were the first time?
A. I was ten.
Q. Do you remember how old you were the last time?
A. Ten.

Bradshaw notes this testimony comports with what C.B. said during his interview at the Child

Advocacy Center—that the abuse occurred before he turned 11.

4 But, looking at C.B.’s complete testimony, the jury was free to infer that in the

above exchange, C.B. was telling the prosecutor about when Bradshaw “would ask if—if he could

suck my penis.” C.B. also testified that other sexual conduct occurred “sometimes,” and “about

once or twice—every once in a while,” and “[m]aybe weekly.” The “maybe weekly” was C.B.’s

answer to the prosecutor’s question about how often Bradshaw would touch his penis, conduct that

satisfies the sexual abuse, indecency with a child, charged in the indictment. See Garrett v. State,

693 S.W.3d 490, 496–97 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2023, pet. ref’d) (noting courts give

wide latitude to testimony of child sexual abuse victims, and child victim’s description of what

happened and when it occurred need not be expressed with same level of sophistication and detail

that adult might use).

Circumstantial evidence, too, supported the duration element. C.B.

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Related

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