MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A McAllen man and an Edinburg woman were sentenced to prison for production of child pornography and enticement of a minor.
Reid Etheridge, 42, and Alicia Cronkhite, 30, plead guilty to production of child pornography and coercion and enticement of a minor, a release from the U.S. Department of Justice stated.
Etheridge, a former South Texas College professor, was sentenced to life in prison. Cronkhite was sentenced to 189 months, followed by a lifetime of supervision.
Etheridge filmed himself committing sexual abuse and assault of two minor children from January 2020 to October 2020, the release stated.
Cronkhite admitted to taking photographs of a victim and transmitting the photos to Etheridge at his request.
The investigation began when authorities discovered child porn being uploaded online. They were able to identify an IP address in McAllen that had uploaded photos and videos of children “engaged in sex acts.”
On Oct. 2, 2020, authorities executed a search warrant at the residence and found Etheridge. Court documents state that Etheridge admitted to sexually assaulting a 4-year-old child on at least six occasions, and also filming the assault.
The investigation revealed communication between Etheridge and Cronkhite detailing sexual exploitation of another victim. Cronkhite’s residence was searched, and she admitted to producing the images of the minor and transmitting them to Etheridge.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations – Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Investigations Task Force.
