BY DINA ARÉVALO AND XAVIER ALVAREZ | STAFF WRITERS
McALLEN — A Pharr woman convicted of possession of child sexual abuse material was sentenced to time served in federal court here Monday.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez handed down the sentence to Sarah Elisea Rubio, 26, after considering the defendant’s history.
Though Rubio will not have to spend any time in prison, she will remain under court supervision — what is called “supervised release” — for five years, and must register as a sex offender for life.
Further, Rubio must never hold a job that primarily deals with children, must never possess pornography of any sort, and must not have contact with any children for one year, unless approved by the U.S. Probation Office, the judge ordered.
Rubio must also obtain mental health counseling, including sex offender treatment.
“I’m sorry for everything. To the court, to my family, to the victim,” Rubio said through tears.
“I made a very terrible decision during a very dark time in my life,” she said.
In the gallery, a woman and a young man who had briefly held hands with the defendant before her sentencing began, could be heard crying, as well.
Rubio pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography on April 6 after reaching a plea deal with the government.
In exchange, federal prosecutors agreed to drop a second charge of distribution of child pornography — a charge that would have carried a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison.
FBI agents arrested Rubio last October when local investigators were tipped off about Rubio as part of an ongoing investigation into online sex crimes by the FBI San Antonio Field Office.
“The purpose of this investigation is for the FBI to strategically target individuals utilizing a social media platform to distribute CSAM,” according to a six-page criminal complaint against her.
Investigators identified Rubio during the investigation as a KiK user going by the username “bmthgirl17” who was actively posting in a group chat room named Hurtcore STR, according to the complaint.
Unbeknownst to Rubio, a federal investigator was monitoring the chat room when “bmthgirl17” shared a 1:36-minute-long video to the group depicting an adult man who was sexually assaulting a minor girl.
The investigator sent a private message to “bmthgirl17,” who responded that she “liked to post that video to the group for newer members who have recently joined the chat thread,” the complaint states.
“Yeah that one was good I like to repost sometimes for newer members (sic),” “bmthgirl17” responded to the investigator’s private message, according to a screengrab of the exchange included in the criminal complaint.
Agents executed a search warrant at Rubio’s Pharr home on Oct. 18, 2021 and took her into custody that same day.
When confronted about the chatroom and social media account, Rubio’s demeanor changed despite agents having not yet referenced child sex abuse material. At that point, Rubio stated she may need a lawyer.
Rubio made her first appearance in front of a magistrate judge two days later. In a separate hearing on Oct. 22, 2021, that judge set Rubio’s bond at $75,000, with a $1,000 cash deposit, a co-surety and a third-party custodian.
Rubio was able to meet those conditions when she was released on bond on Nov. 12, 2021.
In all, Rubio spent just 26 days in custody at the East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa.
In court Monday, Rubio’s plea deal — along with her acceptance of responsibility for her crime — put her in a range of 70–87 months in prison, according to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
But her defense attorney pleaded for leniency.
Rubio, herself, had been exposed to such child sex abuse material when she was a child, Assistant Federal Public Defender Richard Gould said.
At the time of the offense, Rubio had also been involved in a six-year-long “very dysfunctional relationship” with an abusive older man, the public defender added.
“She had a lot of unhealthy exposure about this kind of conduct,” Gould said, adding that this was the first time in his career that he had represented a woman sex offender.
Gould also noted that Rubio had stopped consuming such illicit material of her own accord months before law enforcement contacted her.
“Ms. Rubio is a good candidate for no further incarceration,” Gould said.
But the prosecutor disagreed, saying that the reason only one charge had been levied against Rubio was because “that’s what law enforcement was able to capture.”
“These are real people that are being abused. Real children. The government does consider these people victims,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Mitchell said.
But the judge found that Rubio’s situation made her unique — not only her gender, which is rare among sex offenders, but her young age and childhood trauma.
Alvarez said she has often wondered how people choose to commit child sex offenses.
“In your case, when I read the evaluation, I see it. Easily,” Alvarez said.
“Your history does carry more weight than the need to incarcerate you,” the judge added a moment later. She urged Rubio to confront her past trauma in order to move forward.
