By WECT Staff | February 3, 2021 at 6:05 PM EST – Updated February 3 at 6:23 PM
BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – Braulio Matamoros was sentenced to 192-291 months in prison Wednesday for sex crimes with a 12-year-old girl and will be registered as a sex offender for life.
Matamoros, who is 26 years old, entered a plea in Brunswick County Superior Court to the following charges:
- Five counts of first degree statutory rape
- One Count of first degree statutory sexual offense
- Two counts of first degree exploitation of a minor
- One count of human trafficking
- One count of first degree kidnapping
Matamoros will also receive five years of satellite-based monitoring according to a press release from the Brunswick County District Attorney’s Office.
The investigation began as a missing person’s report of a 12-year-old female who had not been attending her virtual classes.
After she was located, investigators revealed she had been living with Matamoros intermittently over several weeks and that they had engaged in a number of sexual acts in Brunswick County and Horry County, S.C.
Matamoros claimed he did not know the age of the girl, but detectives found the victim’s 7th grade report card and Brunswick County School Chromebook in his kitchen.
The investigation was a joint effort by Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security, and the Horry County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina.
“If we are to end the scourge of this type of modern-day slavery, we must work across state lines to hold traffickers responsible and ensure that there are profound consequences for their criminal behavior,” said District Attorney Jon David.
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