SAN ANTONIO – A San Angelo man was given an 80 year sentence in prison for sexually assaulting numerous children, including a 7-year-old girl, as well as using an app to exploit the children.
Carlos Julian Ruiz, 29, who was a registered sex offender after sexually assaulting a child back in 2013, was identified by the FBI in Jan. 2203 as one of three individuals who were using a mobile messaging app dedicated for the purpose of the sexual exploitation of children, according to court documents.
Federal agents said that Ruiz shared several images in the group chat of a girl that they determined that he had sexually assaulting numerous times between Sept. 1, 2022 to Jan. 13, 2023.
FBI agents also discovered during their investigation that Ruiz befriended the parents of two girls, ages three and two, when the three-year-old was an infant. Investigators said that Ruiz would routinely take care of the girls alone and sexually assault them.
One of the most shocking parts of the investigation was that Ruiz allowed one of the alleged members of the chat group, Trevor Metterhauser, access to one of the girls “for the sole purpose of sexual assault and production of child sex abuse material.
In the press release, agents said that in Dec. 2022, Metterhauser flew down from New Jersey to San Antonio, where Ruiz had transported the girls. Metterhauser had brought with him supplies he intended to use to help with the sexual assaults of the children, including Oxycodone. Investigators said Ruiz filmed the sex abuse with a video camera.
Ruiz was arrested in Feb. 2023 and charged with five counts: one count in each district for sexual exploitation of children and one count in the Western District of Texas for aiding and abetting the sexual assault of a child. He pleaded guilty to the first four counts in November 2024.
“A violent offender who committed unspeakable and abhorrent crimes against children has been brought to justice, thanks to the exceptional work of FBI Albany, FBI Dallas, and the FBI San Antonio Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force,” said the FBI Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp. “Multiple victims have been rescued, and the FBI remains unwavering in its commitment to work in close partnership with law enforcement and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to protect children and pursue those who prey on our most vulnerable.”
Metterhauser currently awaits trial in a separate case in New York and has not yet appeared in federal court within the Western District of Texas.