District Attorney Micheal Murray reported that on Friday, April 21, 2023, John Twomey was sentenced by District Court Judge Mike Smith to life in prison for Aggravated Kidnapping and Aggravated Sexual Asault after a contested punishment hearing. Twomey will be required to serve thirty years before he can become eligible for parole based on the laws governing parole eligibility in Texas.

First Assistant District Attorney Elisha Bird put on evidence that Twomey met a fourteen-year-old from Alabama on the internet in 2021 and, after conversing with her electronically for several months, Twomey convinced the juvenile to run away with him. The mother of the juvenile testified about the fear caused for her and her family for several days as they waited while law enforcement from Alabama, the FBI, and eventually the Brownwood Police Department attempted to locate her daughter.

Bird also called Lieutenant Troy Carroll, of the Brownwood Police Department, to testify about the prompt response of law enforcement once a suspect was identified to find the victim, investigate the offenses, and help return the victim to her home state and family.

Twomey, if released from incarceration by the parole board, will be required to register for life as a sex offender under the Texas Sex Offender Registration Program.

Twomey was sentenced by a federal district court in Alabama to 324 months incarceration federally for the offense of sexual exploitation of a child stemming from the same facts. At the punishment hearing, Bird argued that a twenty-seven year sentence in federal court did not sufficiently protect the community or provide justice for the family of the kidnapped juvenile.

Judge Smith agreed and told Twomey that he had caused “pain” to everyone around him through his actions.