Man Pleads Guilty To Federal Child Sex Crimes Confessed It Was Wrong To Take Girl, 13, To Mexico But ‘He Loved Her’

A man who took a 13-year-old runaway from Eastern Washington to Mexico pleaded guilty Wednesday to two federal sex crimes involving the girl.

But at most, Jose Guel-Perez, 29, will face only two or three years in prison for his crimes, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice said after the court hearing.

Guel-Perez was arrested Jan. 12 in Hidalgo, Texas, after he attempted to return to the United States from Mexico with the girl.

She left her home in Brewster, Wash., on Jan. 6 with Guel-Perez, who had been living with the girl and her mother, Rice told Judge Frem Nielsen.

Guel-Perez pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of a juvenile for sexual activity. He also pleaded guilty to a second count of traveling interstate with the intent to engage in sexual activity with a child.

Congress acted Tuesday to increase sentences for people convicted of transporting children interstate for prostitution or other criminal sexual activity.

But even if the new legislation becomes law, it won’t apply to Guel-Perez because his offense occurred before the enactment date.

When he was arrested last January, he confessed to FBI agents and gave a written statement, the court was told.

“His confession included the statement that he knew it was wrong to have sexual intercourse with someone that young, but that he didn’t care because he loved her,” Rice told the judge.

Guel-Perez, speaking through an interpreter, pleaded guilty to the two charges, but had nothing else to say.

Rice said Guel-Perez and the girl’s mother had been involved in an “onagain, off-again relationship” before the two disappeared from the woman’s home.

Guel-Perez was involved in a sexual relationship with the teenager for several months before they left Eastern Washington for Mexico in his mini-van.

The judge set sentencing for June 15.