Collin County Jury Sentences 65-Year-Old Donald Joachim to Life Without Parole

A Collin County jury found 65-year-old Donald Byron Joachim guilty of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child and returned a punishment verdict of life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Collin County District Attorney’s Office announced after the March 3, 2026 verdict. Judge Tom Nowak of Collin County Criminal District Court presided over the trial that produced the statutory mandatory sentence.

The DA’s office charged that the conduct underlying the Collin County conviction occurred in Celina, Texas, from 2017 to 2020, and prosecutors presented testimony that the victim said the abuse began when she was a toddler and continued through age 13. The victim disclosed the abuse at age 14, and investigators arranged a forensic interview at the Comal County Children’s Advocacy Center where she detailed the timeline and locations of abuse.

Following the disclosure, prosecutors say Joachim, listed as a resident of Rosenberg, Texas, admitted to several family members that he had abused the child. Collin County prosecutors also reported that multiple other children came forward during the investigation; some of those alleged incidents were said to have occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The DA’s charging documents tied the Collin County case specifically to the Celina incidents from 2017 to 2020.

District Attorney Greg Willis led the public response from the DA’s office and named Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Pierce Richardson and Allison Barber as the prosecution team. Investigator Greg Bowers and Victim Assistance Coordinator Melissa White were credited with assisting the case. Willis said, “For too long, this predator exploited trust within families to abuse multiple children across years and locations. Today’s life-without-parole sentence sends a clear message that Collin County will relentlessly pursue justice and safeguard our children.”

Courtroom records released by the DA’s office show the jury convicted Joachim on the statutory offense that carries no eligibility for parole; the office described the sentence as the legal equivalent of throwing away the key. The prosecution relied on the victim’s forensic interview and Joachim’s admissions to family members as key evidence presented at trial. Judge Nowak imposed the mandatory life sentence after the jury’s finding.

The DA’s office publicly thanked investigators and victim-services staff and urged anyone with information about similar crimes to contact law enforcement. Several details remain unavailable in public records: the official court docket number, whether defense counsel filed statements at sentencing, and whether the additional disclosures from the late 1990s and early 2000s have prompted separate charges or ongoing investigations in other jurisdictions. Collin County prosecutors say follow-up work will continue as investigators review leads tied to the other disclosures.