7-year-old sexually assaulted at home day care by man living there, feds say. He’s sentenced
A man had been sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl for nearly a year when he took her into a shed to take explicit photos of her while she was at a home day care, federal officials said.
The Texas man is now bound to spend the next 30 years in federal prison and pay the family of the girl $50,000 in restitution, according to a July 18 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Texas.
“This defendant has caused irreparable harm to this young girl based on his contemplated, planned and acted upon predatory sexual behavior,” U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas said in the release.
On Dec. 15, 2022, Rodney Allan Felux, 45, took the 7-year-old girl into a shed and took sexually explicit photos of the child, federal officials said.
Felux’s attorney did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
Prosecutors described the child “wearing a (gray) dress with unicorns and other cartoon graphics” with visible “bumps” that appeared to be insect bites on her legs in the photos taken by Felux, according to a complaint filed Jan. 11, 2023, in U.S. District Court.
That day, the girl told her mom what happened with Felux, prosecutors said. The mother then called police.
Four days later, police recovered Felux’s phone at his Floresville home and found more photos, according to the complaint.
Images taken on June 21, 2022 and Dec. 15, 2022, were considered a “child pornography production,” according to the criminal complaint. Deputies and FBI agents also said they found dozens of photos depicting young girls engaged in sex acts.
The 7-year-old described moments at the day care when Felux would blindfold her and sexually assault her, according to court documents.
Felux was arrested in January 2023 and pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children in January 2024, prosecutors said.
Floresville is about a 30-mile drive southeast from San Antonio.
This story was originally published July 18, 2024 at 5:10 PM with the headline "7-year-old sexually assaulted at home day care by man living there, feds say. He’s sentenced."
