Former Fort Hood Texas Soldier Guilty Sentenced to 10 Years for Multiple Child Exploitation Counts

BANGOR, Maine: A former Fort Hood, Texas soldier was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Bangor on multiple counts of child exploitation.

U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker sentenced Christopher Meza, 23, to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Meza was also ordered to pay $16,650 in restitution. Meza had been found guilty on November 1, 2023, of one count of enticement of a child, two counts of travelling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and two counts of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. The verdict came after a two-day federal jury trial.

While sentencing Meza, Judge Walker stated, “It’s hard to put one’s mind to just how deeply disturbing the conduct was,” further describing the conduct as “debased, deviant, depraved, and craven.”

According to evidence presented during the trial, between February and December 2021, Meza interacted with a 13-year-old from Maine on a popular online gaming platform. The conversations included descriptions of sex as well as Meza’s acknowledgement of the victim’s age. Meza twice traveled from Texas to Maine to meet with the then 14-year-old victim, and on both occasions was successful in leaving the state with the child.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was the lead law enforcement agency. Additional investigative resources were provided by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division and multiple police departments in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Texas.

Reports of child sexual exploitation are increasing: In 2022, The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline received approximately 32 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation. That included more than 80,500 reports of online enticement of children for sexual acts and more than 31 million reports of child sexual abuse materials. Victimization can take place across every platform, including social media, messaging apps, gaming platforms, etc. To make a CyberTipline Report, visit https://report.cybertip.org/.  If you are in Maine and you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, you can get help by calling the free, private 24-hour statewide sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741.

Project Safe Childhood: This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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