The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office stated that detectives initiated an investigation that led to federal indictment for a San Angelo man for crimes against children.
Juelz Sincere Armstead, 21, of San Angelo, Texas, was recently charged with sextorting minors, ranging from 11 to 17-years-old, as well as adults across the United States according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. Armstead was charged in a superseding indictment with seven counts of production and attempted production of child pornography, two counts of attempted production of child pornography and ten counts of cyber stalking. Armstead was arraigned last Wednesday, Sept. 11 before U.S. Magistrate John R. Parker, and he is reportedly in custody.
According to the indictment, beginning in August 2021, Armstead allegedly persuaded at least seven minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct and produced visuals of the actions. According to reports, Armstead attempted to persuade two additional minors to partake in the conduct on Feb. 26. Armstead allegedly used the images he produced to harass and intimidate the individuals, causing the victims emotional distress.
“An indictment is merely an allegation, not evidence,” the United States Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Texas released. “Mr. Armstead is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”
The Attorney’s Office stated that the investigation was aided by Homeland Security Investigations, Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office, San Angelo Police Department and several federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in Texas, Indiana, including the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon, California, New Jersey, Colorado, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kansas, North Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi.
The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office reported that during his arraignment, the maximum penalty for the counts was set at 320 years with up to $4.7 million in restitution.
“I am proud to share with our community that our Investigations Division was involved with bringing this nationwide child predator to justice,” the Sheriff’s Office released. “This could not have been accomplished without the persistent work of our investigators and the technology purchased by our agency. Well done to the multiple states involved.”
