A former Fort Bliss soldier “obsessed” with a 14-year-old girl was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for sexual abuse of a minor, authorities said.
Carlos Humberto Richard Walsh, 23, of Everett, Washington, was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison on one count of sexual abuse of a minor, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas officials said.
HSI arrests Carlos Humberto Richard Walsh, a Fort Bliss soldier, for sexual abuse of a minor on Thursday, May 25, 2023.
He also was sentenced to five years of supervised release after he serves his prison term, federal court records show.
Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama handed down the sentence Wednesday, Jan. 22, at the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse in Downtown El Paso. A restitution hearing in the case is set for March 27.
Walsh pleaded guilty to the charge Aug. 13 as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, court records show.
More: Prosecutor: Fort Bliss soldier obsessed with 14-year-old sexual abuse victim
He has remained jailed since May 25, 2023, after a federal magistrate judge ruled he was a danger to the victim and the community, the El Paso Times reported.
Walsh was a private first class with the 1st Armored Division and stationed at Fort Bliss at the time of the sexual abuse.
Soldier sexually abused girl for several months
Walsh had sex with the 14-year-old girl four or five times in a barracks at Fort Bliss, federal prosecutor Sarah Valenzuela said during a June 1, 2023, detention hearing.
The sexual abuse of the girl happened between Oct. 1, 2022, to approximately Jan. 24, 2023, U.S. Attorney’s Office officials said.
HSI arrests Carlos Humberto Richard Walsh, a Fort Bliss soldier, for sexual abuse of a minor on Thursday, May 25, 2023.
The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division started an investigation after a commanding officer saw Walsh and the girl on post near the barracks, a Homeland Security Investigations agent testified during the detention hearing.
Walsh was living with the girl in a private room at the barracks on Fort Bliss, the agent said.
He continuously attempted to reach the girl through text and social media messages, the agent testified. Walsh violated a military protective order which forbade him from contacting the girl, Valenzuela said.
More: Fort Bliss soldier arrested, accused of sexually abusing young girl on military post
Homeland Security Investigations began an investigation of its own after agents found the girl with another man who was prostituting her, the agent testified. Agents connected the girl to Walsh through the girl’s phone.
The girl told agents the relationship was consensual, but she felt Walsh was pressuring her to have sex, the agent testified.
Soldier “obsessed” with victim, tattoo of victim’s initials with a heart
Walsh had an “obsessive nature with the minor victim,” Valenzuela said.
Walsh posted a video on Facebook May 21, 2023 — four days before his arrest — staring into a camera with text over the video stating, “Show the tattoo you got when you lost that special one,” the agent testified.
He took off his shirt and showed a tattoo on his chest with the initials of the victim with a heart around it, the agent said.
Walsh posted photos of the tattoo on April 15, 2022, with the message, “Always and forever, a piece of you will be with me wherever I go.”
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at [email protected] or on X/Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Former Fort Bliss soldier sentenced for sexual abuse of young girl
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