CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS — A 68-year-old aquaculture company owner has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of sex trafficking of a minor female, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.
A Corpus Christi federal jury deliberated for one day before convicting David Keith Wills, Oct. 8, 2019, following a 10-day trial. Wills, previously from Rockport and South Padre Island, is the founder and part-owner of Global Blue Technologies. The jury convicted him on multiple counts of sex trafficking and enticement of a child as well as one count of conspiring to obstruct justice.
Today, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, who presided over the trial, ordered Wills to serve a life sentence. At the hearing, the court heard a statement from the minor victim detailing how Wills destroyed her childhood and caused her lifelong trauma. Judge Ramos further ordered Wills to pay $172,000 restitution to the victim and $85,000 in fines.
“For three years, this individual preyed on the innocence of our most vulnerable population relying on economic and psychological manipulation to control and silence his victim,” said Mark Dawson, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Houston. “With today's sentencing, we have removed this predator from the community and sent a resounding message that we are committed to working with our law enforcement partners to aggressively investigate and prosecute anyone who seeks to exploit our nation's children.”
At trial, the jury heard that from 2012 to 2015, Willis conspired with his mistress Maria Candelaria Losoya to traffic the minor female for sex beginning when she was just 10 years old. Losoya and Wills used their cell phones to arrange meetings at several different locations where Wills would sexually assault the girl. These included Wills and Losoya’s respective residences as well as hotels and motels in the greater Corpus Christi area.
Wills sexually assaulted the minor female multiple times until she reported it in April 2015.
During this time, Wills promised to pay the victim’s college tuition if he was allowed to sexually assault the young girl. He also reimbursed Losoya for gifts to the victim and expenditures she would otherwise not have been able to afford. These included an iPad, Bose headphones, flatscreen TV, Apple laptop, trampoline, swimming pool and a school trip to Washington D.C.
After the victim reported the abuse, Wills conspired with a friend to remove a laptop from his home, wanting to destroy it to prevent law enforcement from seizing and reviewing it.
Several witnesses testified at the trial including the minor victim, forensic interviewer, the nurse who first examined her, several state and federal law enforcement officers, and an expert witness. An eyewitness also described seeing the victim at a Portland hotel where Wills and Losoya met in March 2014.
The jury also heard from multiple defense witnesses attesting to his character and successes, while attempting to contradict testimony Losoya and the victim gave.
HSI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Brownsville Police Department and Texas Rangers.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zahra Jivani Fenelon, Richard Bennett and Stephanie Bauman prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ’s PSC page [justice.gov]. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources tab on that page [justice.gov].
