East Texas Man Sentenced to 230 Years for Child Sex Crimes

(KNUE-FM) One East Texas man was just sentenced to 230 consecutive years in prison for child sex crimes. According to CBS 19, Joseph Zeleny, a 52-year-old from Palestine was found guilty on six charges of sexual assault of a child and 11 counts of possession of child pornography.

He was found guilty on all charges by a jury in Anderson County. After being found guilty, the jury sentenced Zeleny to a total of 230 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and ordered him to pay $160,000 in fines.

How the Child Sex Crime Investigation Began

This all began on December 26, 2023, when the Palestine Police Department was first made aware of ongoing sexual abuse of a child. At that time they were informed that the abuse had been going on for years. As you can imagine, investigators took this very seriously and investigated the case quickly, which resulted in two warrants being issued for Zeleny for sexual assault of a child.

READ MORE: Texas Executes Man Convicted in Bedford Murders

Arrest Warrants and Search of the Palestine Home

The arrest warrants were issued by Anderson County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Tammy Lightfoot, with bonds set at $300,000 for each count. Next a search warrant was issued for Zeleny’s residence where several items were seized by detectives.

Get our free mobile app

Detectives Found More Than 3,000 Illegal Images

The investigation led detectives to find more than 3,000 images of child sex abuse material on his devices.

While no one wants to hear about crimes like this happening in East Texas, we appreciate law enforcement investigating and taking action quickly so crimes like this do not continue to happen here in the Lone Star State.