Texas man gets life for exploiting Filipino children

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 59-year-old local resident has been ordered to serve the rest of his life in US federal prison following convictions for several child exploitation offenses including foreign travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with three minors.

Edward Sanchez, 59, was sentenced to life in prison according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice.

US Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos handed Sanchez the life sentence. Sanchez will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

At the hearing, the court heard evidence of his attempts to solicit and coerce additional schoolmates of the victims as well as testimony from a mental health professional regarding the effects of his actions. In imposing the sentence, Judge Ramos noted Sanchez’s complete lack of remorse for his actions.

During the trial, evidence showed Sanchez had traveled to the Philippines where he posed as a benefactor to a school. However, he ultimately sought sexual relationships with students. The jury heard from three minor victims who testified about his activities, which included requests for pornographic images. These were later used to extort the children into meeting for sexual encounters, some unprotected, in the Philippines. Sanchez often provided victims with “morning after pills” to prevent conception.

The jury also heard about and viewed social media messages detailing Sanchez’s attempts to arrange access to the child victim’s family members to another adult male for sex. During their deliberations, the jury poured through thousands of pages of social media messages detailing his exploitation of the victims.

The defense attempted to convince the jury his conduct was lawful by Filipino standards and that US laws were racist. The jury did not believe those claims, ultimately finding Sanchez had sexually exploited three minor children between March 5, 2016, and November 21, 2018 in the Philippines and while in the US using social media.  

Sanchez has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a US Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the probe along with the Corpus Christi Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. —KG, GMA News