Rivera admitted during the investigation that he had sex repeatedly with a 15-year-old ward from Texas, court records show. When the girl threatened to expose Rivera before his arrest, he paid her $2,000 in hush money, the records show. He was convicted of first-degree attempted sex abuse on a child, a felony.

In 2020, a Nebraska judge sentenced Rivera, then 36, to 20 to 30 years in prison. In 2022, he died in prison of COVID-19, according to the Nebraska Department of Corrections.