unmarried with a child

i had a baby three weeks ago. i'm a widow with three older children. the father of this baby abandoned me the week we found out about the baby. he did not contact me during pregnancy and now wants to have rights in this babies life. he wanted me to undergo an abortion when we found out. he begged me to. due to this fact, the fact that he abandoned the baby and me, what right does he has as the father? he has a criminal history. he is a registered sex offender and went to jail for violating his probation. his name is not on the birth ceritifcate and we live in texas. if he insists on visits, can i demand supervised visits given his criminal past, or does that not have any bearing on the raising of our child? i fear this man not physically hurting him, but neglecting him in other ways. how does the court see a mother's fears when there is no real threat?

[tbyte]

The fact that he left you has little or no bearing on his paternal rights.
The fact the he wanted you to have an abortion has little or no bearing on his paternal rights.
The fact the he has a criminal history of sexual offenses probably would limit his parental rights, if you bring it up in court. That can be everything from supervised visits, to a denial of visitation.