A former Texas police officer has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after admitting to grooming and having sex with two underage boys, the Department of Justice announced.
Former Friona, Texas, police officer Delia Ruiz, 31, pleaded guilty to enticement of a minor in January and U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk’s 20-year sentence came down on June 1, the DOJ said in a release.
“In plea papers, Ms. Ruiz admitted that began having sexual intercourse with her 16-year-old victim, identified in court documents as John Doe 2, in fall 2020, and continued the relationship through spring 2021, when the boy turned 17,” the DOJ stated in its release.
Ruiz would also send Doe 2 sexually explicit images of her breasts, vagina, and rear end, “videos of herself masturbating,” and “flirtatious messages,” a factual resume obtained by Law and Crime said.
She further admitted to having sex with John Doe 1, a 15-year-old victim, the DOJ stated.
Ruiz met Doe 1 while at Doe 2’s home and had subsequent communications via Facebook Messenger, according to the factual resume. “Ruiz became flirtatious in her communications with Doe-l by telling him she was going to take a shower and including a ‘winky face’ emoji,” the document states.
The former officer admitted to setting up a meeting with the 15-year-old in a Bovina church parking lot in May 2021, where they first had “sexual intercourse,” and they subsequently convened in the parking lot for sex on two more occasions through June 2021, the DOJ said. Prosecutors said she told the victim to keep their relationship a secret as she could end up in “big trouble.”
The factual resume further asserted:
Ruiz sent additional nude photographs and videos of herself masturbating to John Doe-3 beginning when he was 16 or 17 years of age. Ruiz described the reason she had not had sexual intercourse with Doe-3 was because she had not been afforded the opportunity.
She was taken into custody last October and was fired by the Friona Police Department, according to the DOJ. An indictment obtained by Law and Crime shows she was indicted on two counts of enticement and attempted enticement of a minor, though she ended up pleading guilty to a single count of enticement of a minor, per the DOJ release.