A 25-year-old Abilene man is headed to federal prison for half a century after prosecutors say he used Snapchat to entice and coerce a 13-year-old into creating sexually explicit videos. U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr handed down a 600-month sentence Tuesday in the Northern District of Texas. The punishment follows an indictment filed in December 2025 and a guilty plea entered in January 2026.
Judge Imposes 50-Year Term
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas, Kai Isaiah Ranaglia-Nelson pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography and was sentenced yesterday to 600 months in prison by Judge Brantley Starr. U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said the punishment sends "an unshakable message" and warned that "if you prey on North Texas kids, you will go to federal prison for a very long time."
The FBI Dallas Field Office's Abilene Resident Agency, the Abilene Police Department, and the Taylor County Sheriff's Office conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney James prosecuted the case.
Defendant's Criminal History
Ranaglia-Nelson previously pleaded guilty in Arizona in 2020 to two counts of sexual extortion and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and received a five-year prison sentence, as reported by FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth. Authorities say he was released on supervision in 2023 and, according to prosecutors, began exploiting children again after that release.
Part of a Nationwide Sweep
The case grew out of a two-week national enforcement push called "Operation Relentless Justice" that located more than 205 child victims and resulted in over 293 arrests, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas. Hoodline covered the December crackdown when the charges were first announced and named Ranaglia-Nelson among those arrested in the sweep: Operation Relentless Justice. Prosecutors said the operation involved all 56 FBI field offices and the Department of Justice's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Resources and Reporting
Federal officials are urging the public to report suspected child exploitation to the FBI tipline or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children so victims can be found and connected with services. Prosecutors in the case said the 50-year sentence underscores that federal authorities intend to keep pursuing steep penalties for offenders who target children online.
