Steven Charles Hill

A Waxahachie man will spend life in prison for raping a blind 81-year-old woman in 2019 in Smith County.

Steven Charles Hill, 61, was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of an elderly person in the 7th District Court in August.

On Tuesday morning, Judge Kerry Russell sentenced Hill to life in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Hill has been in the Smith County Jail since Dec. 26, 2019, on a $750,000 bond.

The victim was living at her daughter’s house along with Hill, who was the daughter’s brother-in-law, according to the Smith County District Attorney’s Office.

One of the other family members at the residence, a 15-year-old girl, saw Hill lying in the bed with the 81-year-old woman in the evening. The witness told her mother, and the victim described in detail how Hill sexually assaulted her.

Tyler Police Department officers spoke with Hill, and at first, he denied doing anything to the victim. After he was confronted about possible DNA, he changed his story and admitted he and the elderly woman had sex, but he claimed the victim wanted it and came on to him, according to the DA’s office.

The punishment range for this offense is 25 years to life in prison, the DA’s office said.

Hill was also on parole for burglary charges out of Ellis County.