San Antonio Man Sentenced to Almost 11 Years in Federal Prison for Transportation of a Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity

In San Antonio today, U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra sentenced 33-year-old Ricardo Castillo, Jr., to 130 months in federal prison followed by ten years of supervised release for transportation of a minor with intent to engage in sexual activity announced Acting United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs of the FBI’s San Antonio Division.

Judge Ezra also ordered that the San Antonio resident register as a sex offender for life.

According to court records, in December 2013, Castillo began text messaging with a 15-year-old female in Illinois.  Communications between the two eventually became sexual in nature resulting in Castillo texting a sexually explicit photograph of himself to the minor.  The child confided to Castillo that she was upset with her home life.  On April 25, 2014, Castillo drove from San Antonio to Illinois, and picked the child up at the end of her street.  Once in the car, Castillo removed the SIM card from the child’s phone, and then transported her back to San Antonio where he sexually assaulted her twice.

On the day she disappeared, the victim’s family filed a missing child report with the LaSalle County (IL) Sheriff’s Department. From the victim’s phone records, her father noted an unknown phone number which belonged to the defendant.

On May 5, 2014, Illinois law enforcement detected cell phone activity from the missing child’s cell phone in San Antonio.  Coincidentally, that same day, the victim reached out to a friend via Facebook for help.  The friend provided the victim’s location to her family.  A family member, who had previously driven from Illinois to San Antonio to help locate the missing child, successfully recovered the missing child.

Castillo has remained in custody since his arrest on June 13, 2014.  He pleaded guilty to the charge on September 16, 2014.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) together with the LaSalle County (IL) Sheriff’s Department and the San Antonio Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Wannarka prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.