Reynaldo Salinas, age 27 of San Antonio, faces federal prison time after a jury this afternoon found him guilty of attempted enticement of a minor and attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, announced U.S. Attorney John F. Bash.
A federal jury in San Antonio convicted Salinas on both charges. Evidence presented during the four-day trial revealed that on Sept. 27, 2017, Salinas used a mobile messaging application in an attempt to entice a female he believed was a 14-year-old dependent living on Ft. Sam Houston into engaging in sexual activity. Salinas also transferred a sexually explicit photograph of himself to the individual he believed was a minor. In reality, the individual Salinas believed to be a child was an undercover agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. On Oct. 20, 2017, Salinas, a non-active member of the Texas Army National Guard who had privileged access to military installations, showed up at a pre-arranged location on Lackland Air Force Base to meet the 14-year-old for sex. Agents were there waiting for him and arrested him.
Salinas faces mandatory ten years and up to life in federal prison for the enticement charge and up to ten years in federal prison for the obscene material charge. Salinas remains in federal custody pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept. 30, 2019, before Senior U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra.
U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations agents investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bettina Richardson, Eric Yuen and Antonio Franco, Jr., are prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
