McALLEN — The sentencing of a former South Texas College professor and his accomplice who admitted to producing and possessing child pornography has again been delayed after a new attorney on the case requested more time to review the evidence.
On April 1, 2021, both Reid Etheridge, 42, of McAllen, and Alicia Cronkhite, 30, of Edinburg, pleaded guilty to producing child pornography and coercion of a minor for the purposes of performing a sex act.
Their guilty pleas came six months after their arrests in October 2020; however, sentencing for the pair has seen repeated delays.
Most recently, a sentencing hearing held in McAllen federal court on Tuesday resulted not in the handing down of punishment, but rather another delay.
The latest postponement came after a new attorney joined Etheridge’s defense team. In court filings, that attorney, Victoria Guerra, requested additional time to review the evidence against her client in order to more effectively assist him through the sentencing process.
But while the judge understood Guerra’s need to get up to speed on the case, he was unsympathetic to more lengthy delays.
“Ms. Guerra, you’re new to the case, (but) this is the 11th hour. I’m not gonna give you two months,” U.S. District Judge Randy Crane said during the Tuesday afternoon hearing.
The judge further noted the severity of the crimes both Etheridge and Cronkhite have pleaded guilty to — including the sentencing enhancements that will most likely be assessed against them — as further reason to move forward as soon as possible.
“They’re looking at, both, life sentences,” Crane said before he and the attorneys went on to discuss the likelihood of recidivism for Etheridge according to conclusions drawn by the U.S. Probation Office.
“They don’t say ‘slight risk’… they say ‘moderate,’” Crane said, referring to the probation office’s pre-sentencing report about the man who was once a well-regarded math professor at STC.
As recently as July 2020, student testimonials on the website RateMyProfessor.com describe Etheridge as, “AMAZING,” and “extremely funny, makes class very interesting, and makes math easy to understand…”
But while Etheridge had a nearly 90% approval rating on the student feedback website, in secret, he spent his free time obtaining or producing child porn.
Etheridge admitted to sexually abusing a 4-year-old child on at least six occasions between March and October 2020.
Investigators later discovered text messages that showed Etheridge asking Cronkhite for sexually explicit photos of a 6-year-old child in her care.
Cronkhite responded by sending Etheridge multiple photographs of the child’s genitals between January and September 2020.
INDIGENT DEFENSE
Both Etheridge and Cronkhite went through a revolving door of attorneys in the days after their October 2020 arrests. Etheridge, in particular, cycled through a couple of federal public defenders until his 75-year-old mother retained Osvaldo J. Morales III to defend him, court records show.
But retaining a private attorney didn’t stop Etheridge from claiming indigence in a November 2021 motion seeking the court’s approval to pay for an expert witness ahead of sentencing.
Etheridge wanted $20,000 to pay for the services of Dr. Mark S. Silver, a New York attorney, licensed social worker, and psychologist with extensive experience providing expert testimony in criminal cases.
Silver has published multiple books related to the topic, including some that emphasize “humanizing the client.”
It remains unclear if the court agreed to pay for Silver’s services. Several court orders handed down after the motion was filed remain under seal.
Nor would Etheridge’s attorneys comment about Dr. Silver after Tuesday’s hearing, though discussions in open court made clear that Etheridge and Cronkhite have undergone what the judge referred to as a “psychosexual evaluation.”
Meanwhile, Guerra joined Etheridge’s defense team as co-counsel on May 11 — just days before he was to learn his punishment.
A new sentencing hearing for the pair has been set for July 7 at 10 a.m.
