A photo of a gavel resting in a courtroom. (Joshua Magbanua/U.S. Air Force)
A former civilian employee of the U.S. Army was sentenced Tuesday in California to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing two minors while he worked in Japan, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Thelmo Meneses Santos Jr., 60, of Merced, Calif., “exploited a position of trust” to manipulate two girls for nearly eight years starting when they were age 11, according to the prosecutor’s sentencing memo.
Senior District Judge John Mendez of Sacramento sentenced Santos, according to the Justice Department’s release. Santos pleaded guilty in September under an agreement with the government.
The abuse stretched between 2015 and 2023 and began with one victim and ended with Santos’ arrest after the second victim reported his conduct, according to the memo and the release.
Santos worked in logistics in Tracy, Calif., and at bases in Japan, according to the memo. It did not identify those bases. The Defense Logistics Agency operates the Defense Distribution Depot San Joaquin in Tracy, according to the agency’s website.
Santos admitted the abuse to Army criminal investigators and was arrested in Hawaii on June 6, 2024, according to the release.
While in detention, he emailed the first girl’s family to discourage her from testifying against him and to encourage her to retract her report of sexual abuse, according to the sentencing memo.
The first victim tried to recant her statement in July 2024. Questioned on a conference call by an Army investigator and two U.S. Attorneys with a victim and witness advocate present, she said she falsely accused Santos because she was angry that he had taken $10,000 from her.
The victim later assented to Santos’ plea agreement. His efforts to impede her testimony apparently enhanced his sentence, according to the sentencing memo.
In exchange for Santos’ guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed to dismiss three other counts in the original June 2024 indictment and argue for no more than 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to records filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. He’ll be subject to lifetime post-release supervision and must register as a sex offender.
The court docket indicates Santos was declared indigent and the government prosecutors waived a fine, although Santos must pay $10,000 restitution.
