The 26-year-old woman spoke tearfully Thursday during the penalty phase of Rivas' capital murder trial. She told the court Rivas began having sex with her when she was 12 and the assaults stopped about age 16.

"I was just afraid of him looking for me," she said.

Rivas, 31, is the admitted leader of the group of seven inmates that led authorities on a six-week manhunt after escaping from the Connally Unit near Kenedy.

He faces the death penalty or life in prison for killing Irving Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins, who was shot 11 times and run over when responding to a Dec. 24 robbery of a sporting goods store.

Rivas' attorneys have argued that he never intended to kill Hawkins, but disarm him by shooting him in the shoulders.

Four of the fugitives, including Rivas, were caught Jan. 22 in Colorado. One killed himself rather than surrender and the last two surrendered Jan. 24. Rivas is the first to be tried.

Prosecutors presented evidence for five days last week, including a confession in which Rivas asked for forgiveness and said he deserves to die for shooting Hawkins.

When he escaped last year, Rivas was serving 17 life sentences for armed robbery and kidnapping stemming from 1993 holdups in El Paso. He also had a life sentence for the 1989 burglary of a home.