An Austin man, Jonathan Ruiz-Correa, 29, was arrested on Wednesday and faces federal charges for allegedly exploiting a minor through social media. Court documents state that Ruiz-Correa used the alias “Lucas” and claimed to be 17 years old while communicating with a 14-year-old girl on Snapchat beginning in May. He is accused of knowing the girl’s age and encouraging her to send sexually explicit videos, which she did. The complaint also alleges that Ruiz-Correa discussed paying for the minor to travel from out of state to meet him and sent her money twice using PayPal. Their communications also extended to Instagram.
The investigation revealed that the minor discovered Ruiz-Correa’s real age after speaking with another female follower of his on Instagram, who said he had contacted her as well. This individual provided the victim with a video found on what was believed to be Ruiz-Correa’s dating app profile.
Law enforcement agents seized a mobile phone during their investigation, which contained a sexually explicit video of the minor victim. The phone also reportedly included footage showing sexual activity with another minor whom Ruiz-Correa allegedly met in Houston in January.
Ruiz-Correa is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count related to child pornography material. If convicted, he could face between 15 and 30 years in prison for the exploitation charge and five to 20 years for the second count. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced the arrest. The FBI is leading the investigation, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Devlin is prosecuting.
This case falls under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 that coordinates federal, state, and local efforts to combat child sexual exploitation online and assist victims (https://www.justice.gov/psc).
Authorities remind that a criminal complaint is an allegation; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in court.
