A Texas couple considered by prosecutors to be among the “most wicked criminals” in the state’s history was sentenced to 60 years in prison for filming themselves sexually abusing dozens of children, including an infant.
Christopher Almaguer and his wife, Sarah Rashelle Almaguer, both 27, were sentenced to the maximum sentence Wednesday by a judge in Waco. The couple pleaded guilty in October to sexual exploitation of children and production of child porn after the feds said they recorded themselves sexually assaulting at least 25 children.
“The Almaguers were serial child abusers,” US Attorney John Bash said in a statement. “They abused 25 children that we know about – children from the neighborhood, children from church, children they babysat. The youngest victim was an infant. And the nature of the abuse was unimaginable.”
Bash said the couple also made videos of the juvenile victims being tortured before disseminating the footage to others, including Christopher Almaguer’s brother, Paul Perez Jr., 25, who was also sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to receiving child porn.
“These are two of the most wicked criminals in Texas history,” Bash said of the Killeen couple.
US District Judge Alan Albright also ordered the Almaguers and Perez to be put on supervised release for the rest of their lives upon completion of the lengthy prison terms. They were also each ordered to pay $10,000 to a victims’ compensation fund, the Department of Justice announced.
Prosecutors said an investigation into the couple began in February 2018 after Facebook provided a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a user was uploading videos and photos of suspected child pornography.
Sarah Almaguer uploaded all of the videos, including one depicting her sexually assaulting a female infant, according to a federal complaint obtained by the Killeen Daily Herald.
“These kinds of heinous crime are unimaginable, but happen all too often,” Killeen Police Chief Charles Kimble said in a statement to the paper. “In this situation, the suspects in these horrific acts were arrested, convicted and will no longer be predators in our community while they serve their term where they belong – in federal prison.”
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