A Virginia truck driver has pleaded guilty to transporting a teenage girl across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Rhode Island, 55-year-old David Romero Reyes admitted to a federal judge on Wednesday, Sept. 3 that he had sexual contact with a minor who traveled with him in his tractor-trailer. The guilty plea was announced by acting U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.
No plea agreement was reached. Romero Reyes, of Stafford, Va., is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 2.
The case involves a girl who was reported missing from her Virginia home in July 2020 at the age of 14.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that in April 2021, Romero Reyes was detained by Naval Station Newport Police when a routine background check determined he was wanted in Texas on a charge of felony assault of a child.
“The young girl was located inside the sleeping compartment of the truck during a routine inspection,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Rhode Island wrote in the news release. “An investigation determined that Romero Reyes was known to the girl and her family prior to her disappearance.”
A medical examination at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, R.I., determined that the girl was five months pregnant.
The investigation was conducted by the Naval Station Newport Police, the FBI and Rhode Island State Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ronald R. Gendron and John P. McAdams are prosecuting the case. Romero Reyes’ sentencing will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. LL
More from Land Line: Feds say states play ‘key role’ in addressing sexual assault within trucking industry.
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