Willis Man Pleads Guilty to Producing, Distributing Illicit Images
By Selina Xia Zamacois
HOUSTON, TEXAS — A Willis man has admitted to producing and distributing illicit child material after federal investigators uncovered years of abuse and illicit recordings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston.
Jesse Thomas Raines, 34, pleaded guilty after authorities identified him in 2023 while investigating suspicious activity on social media. In June 2023, Raines engaged with an undercover agent through an internet chat application, where he sent child illicit abuse material and attempted to show he was not saving the conversation by displaying his screenshot folder. Several of those screenshots contained identifying details that revealed his name and residence.
Based on that evidence, law enforcement obtained a search warrant and searched Raines’s home in Willis. During the operation, Raines admitted he had illicitly abused a minor victim for years, producing videos and photographs documenting the abuse. Agents seized multiple electronic devices.
A forensic review of an external drive uncovered a folder labeled with the victim’s name containing illicit files created between March 2019 and May 2023. Investigators also found additional child abuse material on a laptop taken from the residence.
Federal officials issued sharply worded statements following the plea.
U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz called Raines “a deplorable, child-abusing monster,” adding that “the justice system has rightly deemed him for what he is, guilty.” Reitz said his office will continue pursuing offenders to “keep our kids safe.”
Homeland Security Investigations Houston Special Agent in Charge Lucia Cabral-DeArmas said Raines “callously… abused a 7-year-old family member and produced imagery of the abuse to share online,” believing encrypted chats would protect him. She credited HSI agents and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for helping identify him.
U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge will sentence Raines on Dec. 17, when he faces up to 50 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine. He remains in custody.
The investigation was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Montgomery County Constable’s Office, Precinct 1. The case was being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Bauman, Luis Batarse, and Colton Turner under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative targeting child exploitation crimes.
