Source: US FBI
SAN ANTONIO – A San Angelo man was sentenced in a federal court in San Antonio to 80 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of two children while being required to register as a sex offender. U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam handed down the sentence.
According to court documents, Carlos Julian Ruiz, 29, was required to register as a sex offender for sexually assaulting a child in 2013. He was identified in January 2023 as one of three individuals involved in a mobile messaging app group dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children, and who was sexually assaulting and exploiting numerous female children, including a seven-year-old girl. Ruiz shared several images of the girl in the group chat, and an investigation determined that Ruiz had sexually assaulted her on numerous occasions between Sept. 1, 2022, and Jan. 13, 2023.
FBI agents learned through their investigation that Ruiz also befriended the parents of two girls, ages three and two, when the three-year-old was an infant. Ruiz routinely spent extended periods of time alone with both children and sexually assaulted them. According to Ruiz’s plea agreement, he agreed to provide his co-defendant, Trevor Metterhauser, with access to one of the girls for the purpose of sexual assault and production of child sexual abuse material. Metterhauser was allegedly a member of the mobile messaging group and currently awaits trial in a separate case in New York and has not yet appeared in federal court within the Western District of Texas.
In December 2022, Ruiz transported both girls from their home in the Northern District of Texas to a hotel in San Antonio, where he allegedly met Metterhauser, who had flown in from New Jersey with supplies he intended to use to facilitate the sexual assaults of the children, including Oxycodone. Ruiz filmed Metterhauser’s acts of sexual abuse with a video camera.
Ruiz was arrested in February 2023 and charged in both the Western District of Texas and the Northern District of Texas with a total of five counts: one count in each district for sexual exploitation of children and one count in the Western District of Texas for aiding and abetting the sexual assault of a child. He pleaded guilty to the first four counts in November 2024.
“Those who use children for their own twisted sexual gratification will not walk free in the Western District of Texas,” said U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons. “Here in the Western District, we will aggressively and consistently push back against this darkness that has, sadly, become so prevalent in our society. I want to thank our law enforcement partners who helped bring Ruiz to justice, and I want to thank our colleagues in the Northern District of Texas for their work on this case.”
“A violent offender who committed unspeakable and abhorrent crimes against children has been brought to justice, thanks to the exceptional work of FBI Albany, FBI Dallas, and the FBI San Antonio Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force,” said the FBI Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp. “Multiple victims have been rescued, and the FBI remains unwavering in its commitment to work in close partnership with law enforcement and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect children and pursue those who prey on our most vulnerable.”
The FBI’s Field Offices in San Antonio, Dallas and Albany, New York, investigated the case with assistance from the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, 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.justice.gov/psc.
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