Thelmo Meneses Santos Jr., 60, of Merced, California, was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for sexually abusing two minors. Court documents reveal Santos engaged in multiple instances of sexual abuse between 2015 and 2023, beginning when the victims were 11 years old.
The abuse occurred while Santos was employed by the U.S. Army as a civilian employee stationed in Japan. During a voluntary interview with law enforcement, Santos admitted to the sexual acts. He was subsequently arrested in Hawaii by agents with the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID).
Following his arrest, Santos attempted to coerce one of the victims into falsely retracting her account of the abuse. In addition to his prison sentence, Santos is required to pay restitution to the victims and register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
The investigation was conducted by the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID).
Source: Department of Justice