Press Release
San Antonio Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Attempting to Solicit a Minor for Sex
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Texas
In San Antonio today, Senior U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra sentenced Reynaldo Salinas of San Antonio to 15 years in federal prison followed by ten years of supervised release for attempting to coerce a minor into engaging in sexually explicit conduct, announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash.
“I am proud that our office just took another child predator off the streets. I am also glad that increasing national attention is being focused on the problem of child sexual abuse in the United States. We need significantly greater efforts nationwide to fight this scourge,” stated U.S. Attorney Bash.
On June 27, 2019, a federal jury convicted the 27–year-old U.S. Army mechanic at Camp Bullis of one count of attempted enticement of a minor and one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor. Evidence presented during trial revealed that in September 2017, Salinas engaged in online communications with someone he believed was a 14-year-old girl. During these online conversations, the defendant transmitted multiple nude photos of himself and expressed his desire to engage in sexual intercourse, as well as other sexually explicit behavior, with the minor. In reality, the defendant was communicating with an undercover federal agent.
Agents with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bettina Richardson and Eric Yuen prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ 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 exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Updated September 30, 2019
Topic
Project Safe Childhood
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