Dallas child rapist who repeatedly targeted 7-year-old sentenced to 50 years, feds say
A 30-year-old Dallas man who repeatedly raped a 7-year-old child was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years in federal prison, federal authorities said on Thursday.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton identified the man as Luis Humberto Rodriguez
Rodriguez was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr to 30 years on a charge of production of child pornography and 20 years on a charge of transportation of child pornography, with the sentences to run consecutively, for a total of 50 years behind bars. He had pleaded guilty to the charges in January 2021.
The Dallas man admitted that he filmed himself sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl on multiple occasions, then shared the images with others over the social media application Kik, according to federal court documents.
At Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, a federal official testified that Rodriguez also admitted to sexual contact with four additional victims — including a 1-year-old toddler and a special-needs child.
An investigation began on Rodriguez when agents in Olympia, Washington, seized an iPad from a registered sex offender and discovered conversations between the offender and the Dallas man. In it, Rodriguez discussed a child porn “trade” and offered up his email address, according to court documents.
Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas and Olympia Field Offices conducted the investigation.
“The sexual exploitation of children is unconscionable. It is the mission of HSI Dallas to secure the safety of all children. Now that justice has prevailed, our hope is that the victims, their families, and the community will now begin their journey of recovery with this predator behind bars,” said HSI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Lester R. Hayes Jr. in a Thursday news release.
Law enforcement officials had tracked Rodriguez to Dallas and searched his home, where they seized a smartphone containing videos of the defendant sexually abusing a child and a collection of child pornography that Rodriguez estimated exceeded 20 gigabytes, according to court documents.
In plea papers, Rodriguez admitted that he possessed more than 600 videos and images of child pornography, including “sadistic” imagery.
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 1:37 PM.
