A couple will spend 50 combined years in federal prison after pleading guilty to production and broadcast of explicit sexual photos of a relative of 13 years.
The investigation against Edward Lee Wheeler, of 27 years, and Jessica Roxanna Wheeler, from 35, opened in June 2020 in Lubbock, Texas, when a family member reported seeing explicit Facebook messages sent by the Wheelers to the minor, the Department of Justice notes.
Some of the messages, sent over several months, described Mr. Wheeler engaging in sexual acts with the girl , while others included sexually explicit photos of the girl.
Often, the man pretended to be other people and asked his wife than you saw sexual relations with other men.
The couple also started a conversation with the minor about getting her pregnant with the plan of selling her to a fictitious medical testing agency in Europe.
Edward Lee told his wife that this fake agency offered him $42 one billion for the child, and Mrs. Wheeler told the child’s relative that they were considering making the deal.
Wheeler admitted, in court documents, to having abused the minor when he was 15 years old and lived in Russell Springs, Kentucky. The man said he logged into his wife’s Facebook account and impersonated two women and a child from 13 years.
“In one of the messages, Jessica made it clear that Edward had already had sex with Doe previously and Doe did not enjoy it”, the documents show.
Subsequently, the defendant bought the girl over-the-counter supplements to supposedly improve your sexual performance before sending you additional explicit photos.
Later at the sentencing hearing, prosecutors told the court that the Wheelers knew that both the “enhancers” and the “agency” were false, but they had created the story as “an escape from reality”.
Last September, Edward Wheeler pleaded guilty to producing child pornography and on Thursday he was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. While his wife pleaded guilty in September of 2021 and was sentenced in November of 2021 to 20 years in federal prison.
Currently, the minor lives out of state and receives psychological care, the Justice Department said.