Texas Man’s Xbox Live Ban for Explicit Messages to Minor Tipped Off Feds

A Snyder man is facing federal charges for explicit messages he allegedly sent to a 13-year-old girl. Federal court documents show that the man had already been banned from Xbox Live for his inappropriate messages when he decided to move the conversation with the 13-year-old girl over to Instagram.

According to Everything Lubbock, 24-year-old David Rodriguez Gomez initially denied claims of sexual conversations he had with a teenage girl, but after more evidence resurfaced, he eventually confessed.

In May, officers with Snyder Police Department first became aware of Gomez after receiving an anonymous CyberTip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website.

Xbox Live messages were shown in court to show that Gomez did indeed know that the girl he was messaging was only 13 years old and in 8th grade.

The sexually explicit messages Gomez sent to the minor violated the gaming platform terms and Gomez's account was banned. After Gomez's Xbox account was banned, he took the conversation to social media--specifically, to Instagram. Evidence retrieved from Gomez's phone by authorities include messages and sexual photos and videos of the same girl.

When these incriminating messages and photos came to light, Gomez was arrested and charged with the following:

• Online solicitation of a minor
• Possession of child pornography
• Failure to comply with sex offender registration

In addition to these charges, a federal charge of receipt of child pornography was brought against him in late September.

Court documents show that Gomez was previously convicted in 2016 of aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child. He was sentenced to three years in prison and was required to register as a sex offender, which he later failed to comply with as well.

Gomez must verify his status annually and is projected to end his registration in February, 2029, according to the Texas Public Sex Offender Website.

He will appear in court for his federal charge on October 11, records show.