Father Speaks Out Against Daughter's Sexual Assault

40-year old Phil Anderson was found guilty of sexual assault Wednesday.

            Anderson is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

            Now, the father of the young girl is wanting his voice heard.

            “Four years for anywhere from 5 to 10 years of abuse?” said Billy Joe Cruse, the victim’s father. “4 years is nothing.”

            Cruse is furious with the outcome of Phil Anderson's trial.  Furious, because the time Cruse spent trying to get help for his daughter is more than Anderson's entire sentence.  He says he's been trying to get his daughter away Anderson, who was also her mother's boyfriend for 12 years.

“Day 1 this man's tried to keep me from her and her mother was basically helpless.” Cruse said.  “Not helpless, I wouldn't say, she wouldn't do anything.  She wouldn't intervene at all.”

He says the state ignored him when he tried to get help.  But now, saving his daughter is not his only concern.  During Anderson's trial... Cruse took a personal hit.

            According to the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, the prosecutor said Anderson "preyed on a girl looking for a father".

“He basically defamed my character and it was a slap in the face to say this,” Cruse said after reading the article.  “After my daughter went through all she went through and I went through all I went through.”

            Now, Cruse questions the judicial system.  He says not only was he wronged... but his daughter too.

“At what cost are we willing to continue to neglect, to continue to just let things like this take place,” said Cruse.  “We're talking about children's lives being destroyed.  We're talking about children being hurt physically, emotionally... At what cost?”

Anderson could have had up to 20 years in prison.

He now is eligible for an appeal.