South Texas Man Charged with Child Exploitation via Social Media Apps

McALLEN, Texas — A 21-year-old Harlingen man has been indicted for coercion and enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.

Alejandro Moya was originally charged by criminal complaint as he arrived at a local motel to meet whom he thought was a 13-year-old female. Today, a federal grand jury returned the indictment. He is expected to appear in court June 13 for his arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker.  

The complaint alleges that beginning May 9, 2019, Moya enticed an individual he believed to be a 13-year-old female on the social media apps Kik and Whisper. Moya allegedly sent multiple unsolicited sexually explicit images and videos of himself, requesting to meet at a motel in Pharr. The charges allege that in those conversations, he described sexual acts he desired upon meeting.

He was taken into custody as he arrived at the motel.

Moya has been in custody since his arrest. At a detention hearing May 17, the court found he was a danger to the community and ordered he remain in custody.  

If convicted, Moya faces a minimum of 10 years in federal prison.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation as part of the Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Investigations Task Force.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Belt and Andrew Henning are prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

An indictment or criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.
A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence.

A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.