A Texas man has been sentenced to thirty years in prison, in a disturbing case of child sexual abuse with a young relative.
In April, after two days of trial, a federal jury found 25-year-old Felipe Mata-Benavidez guilty of the production of child pornography.
He was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix.
According to evidence presented at trial, Mr. Mata-Benavidez attempted to sexually assault an 11-year-old relative at her home in Muleshoe.
During the assault, the victim’s mother walked in on Mr. Mata-Benavidez attempting to have sexual intercourse with the minor.
The young girl’s mother stopped the assault and fled the residence with her daughter. A short time later, a concerned neighbor notified law enforcement after hearing about the incident.
The Muleshoe Police Department then interviewed Mr. Mata-Benavidez. He showed detectives his cell phone, which contained his messages with the young girl.
In those messages, Mr. Mata-Benavidez instructed the 11-year-old to send him explicit photographs of herself. When she refused, Mr. Mata-Benavidez bullied the girl until she conceded, texting Mr. Mata-Benavidez a lewd image.
He said the child was beautiful and told her not to “share with anybody else… because it’s mine.”
The defendant then continued to ask the 11-year-old to send him more explicit images.
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