Dallas City Wire

A 38-year-old Abilene man who attempted to meet a minor for sex at a local park was convicted at trial, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

Jose Luis Espinoza, Jr., 38, was indicted in February. In May, he pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge D. Gordon Bryant, Jr., but withdrew the plea before the District Court accepted it, citing intimidation by counsel. Following a two-day trial, a jury deliberated for just 30 minutes before convicting Mr. Espinoza of attempted enticement of a minor.

At trial, a Snyder police officer testified that Mr. Espinoza was caught in an undercover online investigation.

On Feb. 5, the officer created a social media profile posing as a 13-year-old girl named “Maddi.” Later that day, Mr. Espinoza reached out to Maddi’s profile and immediately began discussing sexual activity and requesting photographs.

After receiving a photograph of what appeared to be a 13-year-old girl (but was in actuality an age-regressed photo of the officer), Mr. Espinoza asked Maddi how old she was.

“I am almost 14,” she replied.

Mr. Espinoza continued to send lewd and lascivious messages, asking Maddi about her body and her sexual history and detailing what he wanted to do to her.

“You really are a kid, aren’t you,” he wrote. “I’m a horny old guy… guys get locked up for talking to girls like you.”

Two days later, Mr. Espinoza instructed Maddi to meet him at a park near her house. Mr. Espinoza promised the child Skittles and whiskey and said he would bring a towel as Maddi would likely bleed following intercourse.

“Idk if I wanna do it I am scared,” she said.

Mr. Espinoza responded with a laughing emoji, then told her she was “so whiny” and needed to “relax.”

Mr. Espinoza was arrested at a park in Snyder on Feb. 7. Inside his car, officers found Skittles, whiskey, condoms, a towel, and a 9mm Glock handgun.

He now faces not less than ten years and up to life in federal prison.

The Snyder Police Department conducted the investigation with the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan Redd, Callie Woolam, and Jeffrey Haag prosecuted the case. U.S District Judge James Wesley Hendrix presided over the trial.