Cobb man began raping young female relative when she was 8 years old

When the decade of rapes began, the girl was eight years old.

A Cobb County jury deliberated less than two hours Friday before convicting Gabriel Alvarez, 34, of several felony charges related to the series of rapes, prosecutors said in a news release this week.

The girl, who was a young relative, eventually disclosed the abuse to her boyfriend, who took her to Acworth police.

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According to a warrant, the incidents ranged from Alvarez exposing himself to the girl while she was on the couch watching television, to waking up to him molesting her and batting him away. He also forced her to watch pornography with him.

She told Acworth police that she often pleaded for him to stop, saying it hurt, but the attacks continued.

The most striking incident occurred was when she was 11 years old.

According to a warrant, the girl came home after school to find Alvarez hiding behind a door in only his underwear.

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She ran, but he caught her and dragged her into a bedroom.

He covered her mouth and nose with his hands and a rag, yelling at her to be quiet so her friends outside wouldn’t hear, the warrant said.

“I almost died that day,” she told investigators.

When she was 12, according to prosecutors, the girl told her mother and sisters about the abuse. Nothing happened. The girl’s mother denied ever being told her about the attacks.

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“His actions were compounded by a family who refused to protect this child, and instead chose to protect her abuser,” said prosecutor Courtney Veal.

Alvarez was arrested in August 2016.

After the weeklong trial, he faces a maximum penalty of four life sentences plus 195 years.

Alvarez is set to be sentenced on May 2.

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