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A 31-year-old Mexican man living in Edinburg has been sentenced to a decade in prison for using Snapchat to coerce and entice a teenager.
Santos Emilio Marcial-Castro pleaded guilty to the charge on Aug. 29, 2023, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Texas.
The investigation into Marcial-Castro began in April 2023 after law enforcement discovered numerous conversations between the man and a 15-year-old girl. That investigation showed he had been communicating with the girl via Snapchat from May 2021 to April 2023.
“Marcial-Castro was aware the victim was a minor,” the release stated. “During their initial conversations, the child told him about her upcoming 14th birthday.”
Over the next two years, Marcial-Castro sent sexually explicit messages to the girl and enticed the minor to send him nude images on multiple occasions.
“He also told her about his desire to have sex with minors and specifically requested nude photos of the victim’s genitals,” the release stated.
Following Marcial-Castro’s sentence, U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton ordered five years of supervision and he will have to comply with requirements restricting his access to children and the internet. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
However, he will likely be deported because he is not a citizen.
