Former Midland Army Recruiter Sentenced To More Than 7 Years In Prison For Soliciting Sex From 12-Year-Old
By: Dylan Brooks
Updated: November 8, 2012
ALBUQUERQUE, NM -- A former Midland army recruiter will spend more than 7 years in federal prison for trying to solicit sex from a 12-year-old girl in New Mexico.
Arnold Gonzales was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Thursday in a federal courtroom Albuquerque, NM.
Gonzales, 26, will be on supervised release for 10 years after his sentence is finished.
Gonzales -- a former military recruiter who was stationed at the U.S. Army Recruiting Station in Midland -- was arrested in Clovis, NM on May 2nd.
Gonzales had been the subject of a Curry County Sheriff's Office sexting sting operation for the week leading up to his arrest.
In late April, Curry County (NM) Sheriff's deputies had put out an online advertisement entitled, "Cute/Young if age doesn't matter hit me up."
Gonzales responded to the advertisement with an e-mail that included two photos of himself.
The response then initiated a stream of e-mail and texts between Gonzales and the deputy -- who represented himself as as a 12-year-old girl whose family would be relocating to Germany within 2 weeks.
Gonzales asked the "girl" to send naked photos of herself in sexually explicit positions. He also talked about the sexual acts he wanted to engage in with the "girl" in the messages.
On May 1st, Gonzales texted the "girl" saying that he'd be traveling from Oklahoma City, OK to Clovis, NM the following day to have sex with her.
Gonzales showed up where the "girl" told him to meet -- and was arrested by Curry County Sheriff's deputies.
Gonzales pleaded guilty to federal charges of interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in Albuquerque on July 17th.
Arnold Gonzales was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Thursday in a federal courtroom Albuquerque, NM.
Gonzales, 26, will be on supervised release for 10 years after his sentence is finished.
Gonzales -- a former military recruiter who was stationed at the U.S. Army Recruiting Station in Midland -- was arrested in Clovis, NM on May 2nd.
Gonzales had been the subject of a Curry County Sheriff's Office sexting sting operation for the week leading up to his arrest.
In late April, Curry County (NM) Sheriff's deputies had put out an online advertisement entitled, "Cute/Young if age doesn't matter hit me up."
Gonzales responded to the advertisement with an e-mail that included two photos of himself.
The response then initiated a stream of e-mail and texts between Gonzales and the deputy -- who represented himself as as a 12-year-old girl whose family would be relocating to Germany within 2 weeks.
Gonzales asked the "girl" to send naked photos of herself in sexually explicit positions. He also talked about the sexual acts he wanted to engage in with the "girl" in the messages.
On May 1st, Gonzales texted the "girl" saying that he'd be traveling from Oklahoma City, OK to Clovis, NM the following day to have sex with her.
Gonzales showed up where the "girl" told him to meet -- and was arrested by Curry County Sheriff's deputies.
Gonzales pleaded guilty to federal charges of interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in Albuquerque on July 17th.
