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Woman sentenced to 30 years for sexually exploiting child

Corpus Christi Federal Courthouse
Posted at 6:59 PM, Jul 28, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-28 20:23:03-04

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Federal prosecutors announced a 55-year-old local woman was sentenced for 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to entice a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for producing child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery said Diana Martinez pleaded guilty March 2. At that time, she admitted to conspiring with Santos Gonzalez, 53, Robstown, to produce and send illicit photographs of a minor victim.

In exchange, Gonzalez provided her money for groceries and medicine.

Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton handed Martinez a sentence of 360 months.

Martinez came to the attention of law enforcement in May 2020. Authorities learned about the suspected abuse and discovered a tablet used to commit the crimes.

The Facebook accounts of Gonzalez and Martinez revealed they had been communicating since at least January 2016 which continued through May 2020. Throughout the thousands of pages of interaction, Gonzalez wrote of wanting to have sexual intercourse with the minor victim.

Martinez would then take nude photographs of the minor victim and send them to Gonzalez in exchange for money.Martinez has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

If she is released, prosecutors said Martinez will serve 10 years under a supervised release and she will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict her access to children and the internet.

Martinez will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

Judge Tipton previously sentenced Gonzalez to a total term of 420 months in federal prison.