A 25-year-old Pharr woman pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on Wednesday.
The FBI arrested Sarah Elisea Rubio on Oct. 18 on the possession charge and she was later indicted on that count and a count of distribution of child pornography.
The FBI investigation into the woman began in 2020 when the agency learned she shared the child sexual abuse material in a chatroom called “Hurtcore STR” on the messaging application Kik.
During the investigation, the San Antonio FBI office notified the McAllen office about Rubio, who agents identified during an investigation that strategically targeted people who use social media to distribute child sexual abuse material, according to the criminal complaint.
An FBI agent actively monitoring the room identified her as a user that went by the handle “bmthgirl17,” who was actively posting there and who posted a video depicting child pornography, according to the FBI.
The agent engaged in a private message with Rubio, who said she posted the video for new members of the group.
“The video ‘bmthgirl17’ shared to the group is approximately 1:36 long and depicts a prepubescent child and an adult male.
In the video the adult male is engaged in sexually assaulting the minor child,” the complaint said.
Rubio reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
In exchange for her guilty plea for the possession of child pornography charge, prosecutors will move to dismiss the child pornography distribution charge.
The deal also requires her to register as a sex offender.
Rubio is scheduled for sentencing in July.
