GALVESTON — A Galveston County jury has sentenced a former Dickinson man to 11 years in prison after convicting him of indecency with a child by sexual contact.

Joshua Andrew Lanier was convicted Wednesday in connection with the sexual abuse of a 9-year-old girl in 2017, according to the Galveston County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.

The victim, now 17, testified that the abuse occurred the night before Easter 2017 while she, her mother and Lanier were asleep in the living room of her grandfather’s Dickinson home. Prosecutors said Lanier forced the child to sexually gratify him after she awoke during the night.

The victim disclosed the abuse to her mother in 2024, when she was 15. Her mother then took her to the Dickinson Police Department, beginning the investigation that led to Lanier’s indictment.

Trial began Monday. Prosecutors Erika Mercado and Madison Flores presented seven witnesses, including pediatric specialists from the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Prosecutors also presented evidence involving an earlier alleged sexual assault disclosed by the victim during an interview at the Children’s Advocacy Center for Galveston County.

The jury deliberated for about two hours before returning a guilty verdict, according to the district attorney’s office.

During the punishment phase, Lanier’s biological daughter testified that he had shown her pornographic material on multiple occasions. The victim described the effects the abuse had on her, including becoming withdrawn and isolating herself, prosecutors said.

The Galveston County Criminal District Attorney’s Office credited Dickinson police Detective Fidencio Gonzalez, the Dickinson Police Department, UTMB’s ABC Pediatric Team and the Children’s Advocacy Center for Galveston County for their work on the case.