Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Texas Man Who Forced Stepdaughter To Live In Shed, Sexually Assaulted Her, Gets Probation
Michael Dwaine Polvado, 44, allegedly claimed “gang members” had forced him to sexually assault his teenage stepdaughter over the period of a year in 2019.
A Texas man who forced his teenage stepdaughter to live in a shed behind his home and routinely sexually assaulted her was slapped with a probationary sentence this week.
Michael Dwaine Polvado, 44, was sentenced to 10 years of probation on Friday for locking his 17-year-old stepdaughter in a shed behind his home for more than a year in 2019, according to Wichita Falls newspaper the Times Record News.
He pleaded guilty to prohibited sexual conduct in the 78th District Court, the daily newspaper reported. Polvado had faced life in prison prior to striking a plea deal with prosecutors.
In 2021, Wichita Police received a tip from a woman claiming that her stepfather had raped her over an extended period and made her live in a shed roughly two years prior, per an arrest affidavit cited by The Times Record News. The unidentified underage victim told detectives that the sexual assaults first began in April 2019, just a month after she gave birth to a baby that would die of complications just days later.
"She stated this happened every morning Monday through Friday and some weekends from April 2019 until she moved out of town in April 2020,” court documents added.
Polvado allegedly told the teenager that a non-existent gang had coerced him into forcibly confining her at his North Beverly Drive property and that they would kill her mother if he didn’t comply with their demands. He later told his stepdaughter he’d also kill her if she told anyone.
“Gang members were making him do this,” the case’s affidavit, cited by Law&Crime, stated.
The minor’s mother was also aware of the lurid scheme, according to police. The victim’s mother allegedly admitted to law enforcement that she knew about the invented gang and that her spouse “had sex with the victim at least once that she knew of in order to appease the gang members.” The mother said she neglected to file a police report “to protect her family,” per Law&Crime.
The victim periodically moved from the house in June 2019 prior to her parents making her return home and live “in the shed behind the house.”
“[The victim’s mom] responded claiming the gang had a gun to her head and Michael did not want to hurt anyone but only wanted to save them [the victim and her mother],” the affidavit alleged.
Polvado was arrested in November 2022, according to online court documents. He later told an investigator that he had sexual contact with the victim but only after she had turned 18, per charging documents. He claimed that she had repeatedly asked him to sleep with her and he eventually gave in.
He was initially charged with sexual assault following his arrest. A grand jury ultimately indicted him in April 2022.
The third-degree felony charge of prohibited sexual contact that Polvado secured through his plea deal had carried a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars. A judge also ordered him to pay $290 in court costs and $55 for reimbursement fees, per the Times Record News.
Polvado is now required to register as a sex offender. He’s prohibited from contacting his stepdaughter, per his prohibition requirements, and must also complete a sexual abuse treatment program.
The Wichita County District Attorney's Office haven’t yet commented on Polvado’s sentencing.
