Serial Child Sex Offender Convicted of Child Exploitation Offenses

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Category: News

Midland, Texas - A federal jury convicted a Texas man Wednesday for multiple child exploitation offenses involving an 11-year-old child.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Martin Renteria, 52, of Midland, enticed an 11-year-old into engaging in sexual acts on multiple occasions. Renteria purchased expensive gifts for the child in exchange for the sexual acts. On at least one occasion, he also recorded a video of one of the sexual acts. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Renteria had committed similar crimes in the past.

Renteria was convicted of production of child pornography, sex trafficking of a child, possession of child pornography, and committing a new crime against a child while registered as a sex offender. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 11, 2022 and faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

The Midland Police Department investigated the case, with computer forensics assistance from the Justice Department’s High Technology Investigative Unit.

Trial Attorneys Alicia A. Bove and Austin M. Berry of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica L. Daniels of the Western District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the 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.