A San Antonio woman faces a child sexual exploitation charge after an investigation by San Antonio police and the FBI discovered videos that appeared to show her sexually assaulting a 7-year-old boy, according to law enforcement officials.
Crystal Celestina Candia, 39, was arrested Monday in San Antonio, according to a federal complaint obtained by San Antonio Express-News.
San Antonio police and an FBI forensic examiner obtained a search warrant July 22 for Candia’s phone after police were told the device contained a video of what appeared to be Candia sexually assaulting a 7-year-old boy, the complaint states.
The files reviewed by authorities showed Candia “consistently handling the camera and moving the device in and out of different rooms,” at a residence in San Antonio, the document states. Investigators said that she appeared to have hidden the camera within blankets or furniture.
Investigators found a series of 11 video clips that were taken around March 12, and ranged in length from one to five minutes. The forensic examiner wrote that in one of the videos, Candia was nude from the waist down, and was identified by her facial features and a prominent tattoo on her left shoulder. It depicted Candia “adjusting the angle of the camera,” the document states.
The document states that in this particular video, Candia “could be seen removing the pants and underwear of the child victim” and appeared to be “engaging in sexual intercourse” with the boy. The examiner wrote that she “could be seen consulting her cellular device in what appeared to be an attempt to review the footage being captured by the camera.”
According to the complaint, a further review of Candia’s device identified her as “engaging in sexual intercourse” with the child victim “on at least three additional occasions between February through June.
Bexar County court records indicate that Candia has a criminal record that includes a misdemeanor assault conviction and a state jail drug offense.
