A Texas man, who escaped from jail 26 years ago while awaiting sentencing for a sexual assault of a Turlock girl, has been sentenced to prison.

Juan Carlos Barriga, 44, was sentenced on Dec. 18 in Stanislaus County Superior Court to two years and eight months for the 1990 assault and subsequent escape, according to court records.

Barriga was originally arrested in 1990 for an attack on a 17-year-old girl at her Turlock home on Vermont Avenue. Barriga broke into the home and attacked the teenager while her baby lay on the floor next to her.

After his 1990 arrest Barriga agreed to a plea deal that had him enter a guilty plea to assault with the intent to commit rape in exchange for a burglary charge being dropped.

Before he could be sentenced for the crime, Barriga escaped from the Stanislaus County Honor Farm, which at the time operated in a rural area in Grayson.

Barriga lived as a fugitive for 26 years before he was apprehended in August of this year in Dallas, Texas.

Barriga was sentenced to two years for the assault charge and eight months for the escape. He had entered a no contest plea to the escape charge. He also will have to register as a sex offender.

The judge had to go under the laws and sentencing guidelines for 1990.