Couple filmed sex abuse of dozens of children, including babies, prosecutors say
DALLAS (AP) — A Texas couple were sentenced Wednesday to 60 years each in prison for filming themselves sexually abusing kids, a case that prosecutors say involved more than two dozen young victims including babies.
A federal judge in Waco gave Christopher Almaguer and his wife Sarah Rashelle Almaguer the maximum prison sentences. They had pleaded guilty in October to one count each of sexual exploitation of children and production of child pornography.
Paul Perez Jr., Christopher Almaguer’s brother, also was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of receiving child porn.
The Almaguers filmed themselves sexually assaulting at least 25 children — ranging in age from 8 months to 14 years old — including members of their own family, children they baby-sat for and kids from their Central Texas church, federal prosecutors said. Court records say the 27-year-olds were the legal guardians of at least one of the children.
“The sexual abuse involved here is the most indescribable abuse imaginable,” John Bash, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said Wednesday, adding that Almaguers are “probably two of the worst criminals in the history of Texas.”
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright also sentenced Perez and both Almaguers to a lifetime of supervised release and ordered each of them to pay $10,000 to a victims’ compensation fund.
State and federal law enforcement officials arrested the Almaguers last year in their hometown of Killeen, a city about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Austin, after receiving an anonymous tip to an online child exploitation hotline.
Bash said it’s unknown how many people the Almaguers sent their child porn to online.
“These kids’ suffering and abuse will continue for their entire lives because those images will be continually shared online,” he said.