A Fort Hood soldier raped two young girls. A military jury found him guilty on June 12, 2026. He got 25 years in prison.

His name is Sgt. Maj. Victor M. Rivera. He is 49 years old. He worked at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas.

The judge took away all his pay. The Army dropped his rank to E-1, the lowest grade. He got a dishonorable discharge. When he gets out, he must sign up as a sex offender.

He will serve his time at the federal prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

The abuse started in 2019. Rivera lived in Harker Heights, near Fort Hood. He began abusing a girl who was under 16. About a year later, he started abusing a second girl. She was under 12.

The girls told their mom. She went straight to the Harker Heights Police in October 2020.

Police found out Rivera was in the Army. Army criminal investigators joined the case.

They pulled Rivera's phone. His phone had proof. He had been visiting websites about the sexual abuse of children.

In 2025, Army lawyers told the Bell County DA they planned to take the case. Bell County kept its own case open too. The Army filed charges on November 20, 2025.

The case took years to get to trial. The victims waited. Prosecutors say they never gave up.

"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, Army prosecutor.

Capt. Kristyn Dial also worked the case. She praised the victims for speaking in court.

"After suffering years of abuse at the hands of Sgt. Maj. Rivera, the strength the victims showed by testifying against him was unwavering and inspiring," Dial said.

Lt. Col. Tara Goble talked about the teamwork between agencies.

"This was a huge success story for the two investigative agencies working together and for Army CID utilizing its resources to conduct an extensive digital forensic analysis of Sgt. Maj. Rivera's phone years after his arrest," Goble said.

Rivera held one of the Army's highest enlisted ranks. It takes decades to reach sergeant major.

Harker Heights sits right outside Fort Hood. Many Army families live there. The case hit both the military and the local community hard.

Army lawyers now handle serious crimes like this one. The office was set up to take these cases away from unit commanders.

The girls were children when the abuse started. They are older now. They showed up. They testified. And Rivera is going to prison.

Rank does not protect anyone who harms a child. Rivera will be locked up for 25 years.