Tulsa Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for the Enticement of a 13-Year-Old Girl

FORT WORTH, Texas —Elias Omar Santamaria, 39, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to serve a total of 120 months in federal prison and will be deported following his release from prison, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Santamaria pleaded guilty in April 2017 to one count of enticement of a minor and has been in custody since his arrest in February 2017.

According to the factual resume filed in the case, on March 11, 2016, Santamaria sent a message to a Fort Worth Police Officer acting in an undercover capacity and posing as a 13-year-old girl stating “add me sweetie. I love young girls.” Santamaria continued to have conversations with the officer and on March 17, 2016 Santamaria stated, among other things, that he wanted to engage in sexual intercourse with whom he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. They agreed to meet that same day in Fort Worth, Texas, to engage in sexual intercourse. When Santamaria arrived at the agreed location the Fort Worth Police Department took him into custody. During a search of his vehicle, officers found condoms, a bottle of tequila, and a pair of Nike Air Jordan tennis shoes, which Santamaria had promised to bring.

These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Fort worth Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Fahey prosecuted the case.

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