Trial of Waco man accused of sexually abusing young relatives underway

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Testimony is set to begin Tuesday morning in the trial of a Waco man charged with sexually abusing two young family members over the course of several years.

Perry Dwyane Dixon, 46, is on trial in Waco’s 19th State District Court on a charge of continuous sexual abuse of young children.

Prosecutors Will Hix and Elizabeth Buice and defense attorney Darren Obenoskey selected a jury to hear the case on Monday.

Dixon is charged with sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy on multiple occasions from January 2017 to May 2020. He also is charged with sexually abusing a girl, who also is a family member and who court records show was younger than 10.

Dixon denied the allegations and offered to take a polygraph, which he failed, according to an arrest affidavit.

The boy’s outcry to family members launched investigations by Waco police and Child Protective Services workers. Results of a medical exam were consistent with the child’s accounts, police reported in the affidavit.

Family members told police Dixon had access to the boy during that time, according to the affidavit.

Dixon, who has been jailed 973 days, has a prior felony conviction for aggravated robbery, for which he was sentenced to 18 years in 1996, and a 1994 misdemeanor conviction for criminal mischief, according to court records.

If convicted of continuous sexual abuse of young children, Dixon faces a minimum prison term of 25 years with no parole and a maximum life sentence with no parole.