A 34-year-old man who posed as a teenager to solicit explicit images from seven underage girls has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham announced Friday.
Matthew Ray Flores, of Fort Worth, was charged in January and pleaded guilty in February to sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography.
Flores was sentenced Thursday to 360 months in prison by a federal judge.
According to court documents, Flores assumed the alias, 15-year-old "Ben Garcia," which he used on social media to target 12 to 17-year-old girls.
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Documents said Flores reached out to a 14-year-old girl in November 2019 and visited her home, climbing through her bedroom window. The girl was shaken and asked him to leave.
Over the following days, Flores repeatedly demanded the girl send him explicit images. She eventually complied and sent him nude photos, which Flores said was "something to use against her" if she didn't let him into her home.
Over the ensuing three months, Flores threatened to send the girl's photos to friends, family and online "rapists" if she didn't send him more photos.
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Court documents said that Flores entered the girl's room again with a condom but the girl told him "we aren't having sex" and pushed him out of her window.
"I went through something no little girl my age should have gone through. I was vulnerable and lonely, which made me an easy target," the victim testified at Thursday's sentencing hearing. "I'll never be the same as I was before. I hated myself for so long, feeling so confused and alone because of him … I can finally say this with the strength I have now: He has no power over me. I will not allow him to hold me back anymore."
According to the report, prosecutors revealed Flores exhibited the same pattern with seven other victims over a two-year span.
