Crane man charged with ‘sexting'
Federal authorities have charged a Crane man who reportedly admitted to “sexting” with a 15-year-old girl.
Michael Angelo Cavazos, 28, appeared Friday before a federal magistrate in Midland on charges of coercion and enticement and transferring obscene material to minors. Court documents show he has not yet hired a defense attorney.
According to a criminal complaint, Cavazos met the girl about a year ago, and the two began communicating via Facebook and text messaging. Cavazos told authorities the exchanges were “friendly” at first, but that he later asked her in one message if she would go “all the way” if things “got hot.”
Cavazos said he did not have sex with the girl, but he reportedly admitted to kissing the girl one evening last year when her parents weren’t home.
This spring, Cavazos asked the girl to send him nude photographs of herself, according to an affidavit. She complied on at least two occasions, and, according to the affidavit, Cavazos reciprocated by sending her a sexually explicit photograph of himself that he took with his cell phone.
Fueled by the ubiquity of cell phones and social networking sites, “sexting” has become a growing trend among teenagers and young adults. According to a recent survey conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 21 percent of teenage girls and 18 percent of teenage boys have at some point sent or posted “nude or semi-nude” images of themselves.
In a similar case earlier this year, Tomas Daniel Diaz, 33 of Odessa, was federally indicted after he reportedly exchanged sexually explicit images with a 16-year-old girl he met at a restaurant in Ranger. After communicating with the girl through e-mail, text messaging and the social networking site MySpace, Diaz reportedly drove to Ranger High School one day and “attempted to withdraw her” from the school, court documents show.
Authorities later searched his vehicle and reportedly found duct tape, latex gloves, condoms, a pillow, a blanket, a camera and binoculars. Diaz has pleaded not guilty to enticement and receiving and possessing sexually explicit images of minors. He is scheduled to stand trial next month.
In the Crane case, Cavazos willingly provided several details of his relationship with the 15-year-old to state and federal investigators during an interview Wednesday in the back bedroom of his house. At one point during the interview, Cavazos acknowledged having contact with at least four other teenage girls in Crane between the ages of 14 and 17, but he denied enticing them or having any sexual contact, the affidavit shows.
Cavazos told authorities he was arrested when he was 18 after a 14-year-old girl claimed he raped her. He claimed the sex was consensual and said the charges were eventually dismissed.
