By LYNETTE SOWELL-STEVENS
Cove Leader-Press
Lawrence Varela-Halbert Jr., former Director of Bands for Copperas Cove ISD, received a sentence of 12 years in prison on Monday morning in the 52nd District Court of Coryell County.
The 38-year-old entered a guilty plea on May 27. The 60 days following allowed for a pre-sentence investigation to take place.
The sentence is one year under the cap of 13 years that the victim wanted out of sentencing, said Coryell County District Attorney Dusty Boyd.
“The office was proud to support the victim who was deeply involved in controlling and securing the outcome of this case,” Boyd stated in an email to the Leader-Press on Monday afternoon.
“Her collaboration and involvement from the beginning of the investigation until sentencing was inspiring and comprehensive.”
Although the second-degree felony charge can carry a sentence of up to 20 years, the victim had asked for a 13-year sentence cap at the time of the plea.
Dusty Boyd told the court during May’s plea hearing that his office wanted to ask the court for more, but he also spoke to the victim’s “strength and courage.”
Varela-Halbert was arrested on Dec. 19, 2024, on an indictment warrant by the Copperas Cove Police Department.
His charges at that time were three counts of sexual assault of a child.
As part of the plea agreement, the court abandoned charges two and three.
The offense occurred in 2021 when the student attended S.C. Lee Junior High School, where Varela-Halbert had been band director since 2015.
According to police, the CID’s investigation revealed a sexual relationship occurred between the student and the educator in 2021 at his residence in Copperas Cove.
Varela-Halbert, a CCISD alum himself, started in the Director of Bands position during 2023-2024 school year.
He remained in that position until after his arrest on Dec. 19, 2024, and he submitted a resignation that took effect on Jan. 8, 2025.
Varela-Halbert has remained in the Coryell County Jail since pleading guilty. He had been out on bond since December 2024.
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