A former U.S. soldier stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, 23-year-old Christopher Meza was sentenced on Friday for sexually exploiting a child from Maine.
“It’s hard to put one’s mind to just how deeply disturbing the conduct was,” said Judge Lance Walker during sentencing.
Meza was sentenced in Bangor to ten years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and will be forced to pay $16,650 in restitution.
Between February and December 2021, Meza carried on a correspondence with a 13-year-old girl from Maine, whom he initially met through a multiplayer video game.
During the conversations, Meza acknowledged the child’s age, and wrote descriptions of sex.
When the victim was 14, Meza traveled from Texas to visit the minor on two separate occasions, and was able to successfully meet-up with the child, and transport her out of the state.
After being found guilty in November 2023, over two years after his interactions with the victim began, he was sentenced for enticement of a child, and two counts each of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and traveling with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
