Sexual assault victims speak out on incidents with former Texas state trooper
State trooper in prison for sexual assault
A sexual assault victim is speaking up about her terrifying experience with a former state trooper. Lee Ray Boykin Jr. is currently serving 43 years behind bars for sex crimes against two women. FOX 26's Jade Flury has more from the victim who is speaking out.
HOUSTON - A sexual assault victim is speaking up about her terrifying experience with a former state trooper. Lee Ray Boykin Jr. is currently serving 43 years behind bars for sex crimes against two women. Now, one of the women, Andrea Barrera, is sharing her story.
Andrea Barrera hopes her courage in sharing her story will empower other women to speak up against predators. She did agree to give FOX 26 Houston an interview if we didn’t show her face.
"It’s not funny. No means no, you know. Doesn’t matter what you do for a living," said Barrera.
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On Aug. 7, 2020, Lee Ray Boykin Jr, a former state trooper, turned a traffic stop into a sexual assault.
"He told me to step out of my friends' car, go in front of his car, and as soon as I did that, he just grabbed me by my arm and put me inside of the vehicle," said Barrera.
She said Boykin Jr. drove her to a back parking lot, parked by a dumpster, and forced her to perform a sex act. He told her she would go to jail if she refused.
"Oral sex," said Barrera. "I had no choice."
She said he then pulled a gun on her.
"As soon as it happened he told me to run," said Barrera. "I was afraid. I was hiding behind trees, thinking he was going to come back and shoot me or something."
Despite her fear, Barrera reported the assault to the Texas Rangers.
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Then earlier this year a jury found Boykin guilty of sexual assault of not only Barrera but a second woman.
"If it wasn’t for me doing everything by the book and calling the cops, and going to the hospital and all, he wouldn’t have gotten caught," said Barrera.
Barrera said although Boykin is behind bars, her life hasn’t returned to normal.
"I have anxiety. I can’t sleep. I just lost everything because of this," said Barrera. "It’s never going to go away because I'm always going to fear that someone’s going to try to come get me because I put a trooper behind bars for a long time."
She believes by sharing her experience, she can encourage other women to raise their voices.
"There’s women out there that need encouragement. Speak out. I know it’s scary and stuff. You need to put these people away," said Barrera.
FOX 26 Houston reached out to the Department of Public Safety about Andrea's story. They said in part "Boykin Junior's authority as a commissioned officer with the department was promptly withdrawn following his August arrest for aggravated sexual assault; he was terminated from the department later that month."