CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A Mathis woman who was supposed to care for a young child but who instead recorded her sexual assault has pleaded guilty, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Rosa Linda Ganceres, 53, entered a guilty plea to sexual exploitation of a child, otherwise known as production child pornography.
The court heard today that Ganceres and her boyfriend - Daniel Benson Billman, 42, of Aransas Pass, and a registered sex offender - placed an ad on craigslist offering babysitting services. The victim’s mother answered the ad and Ganceres was supposed to care for the child. Instead, Billman sexually assaulted the two-year-old girl while Ganceres recorded the assault.
In August 2015, authorities executed a search warrant at Billman’s residence and seized a cellular telephone. Forensic examination led to the discovery of a video of the child involved in sexual explicit conduct that Ganceres recorded.
Billman has also pleaded guilty for his crimes. In March 2016, Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack sentenced him to 50 years in federal prison.
Ganceres is set for sentencing Sept. 22, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos. At that time, she faces a minimum of 15 and up to 30 years in federal prison as well as a possible $250,000 fine. Upon completion of any prison term imposed, Ganceres also faces a maximum of life on supervised release during which time the court can impose a number of special conditions designed to protect children and prohibit the use of the Internet.
The charges are the result of the investigative efforts of Homeland Security Investigations, Aransas Pass Police Department and Corpus Christi Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugo R. Martinez, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
