August 9, 2023
(McKinney, Texas) – District Attorney Greg Willis announced that Joseph Marshall Gutierrez, 35, of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced by a jury to life in prison for Online Solicitation of a Minor after being found guilty. “This child predator had already been to prison twice, once for sexual conduct with a child and once for failing to abide by sex offender registration conditions, before he then sought out yet another child for his own sexual desires. He deserves a lifetime locked in a cell as far away from a child as possible,” said Willis after sentencing.
Gutierrez used social media site MeetMe to solicit an undercover officer, who he believed to be a 15 year old female child, for the purposes of engaging in sexual conduct with the child. Gutierrez set up a meeting location and date of June 3, 2022 at the Super 8 Motel in McKinney, Texas. Gutierrez showed up to meet the child and was arrested on scene.
Gutierrez brought with him a box of condoms, a sex toy, and his cell phone. Investigator Travis Monk with the Collin County Sheriff’s Office completed a cell phone extraction of the device and confirmed each message that had been sent from Gutierrez to the undercover officer.
The jury found Gutierrez guilty of Online Solicitation of a Minor.
In the punishment phase, prosecutors presented evidence to the jury to show that Gutierrez is a habitual offender. In 2011, Gutierrez was originally sentenced to 7 years deferred probation out of Dallas County for Indecency with a Child. But in 2013, Gutierrez violated that probation and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. After being released in 2015, Dallas County authorities arrested Gutierrez in June 2016 for not complying with his requirement to register as a sex offender.
Then in December 2016, Gutierrez committed Aggravated Assault Causing Serious Bodily Injury to a Family Member with a Deadly Weapon. In March 2017, Gutierrez was sentenced by Dallas County to 5 years in prison for both the Failure to Register as a Sex Offender charge, a third degree felony, and the Aggravated Assault charge, a first degree felony. Gutierrez completed his parole for these offenses in December 2021, just six months before attempting to prey upon yet another child.
After hearing of this criminal history and considering the facts of the new offense, the jury sentenced Gutierrez to life in prison.
Visiting Judge Michael Chitty presided over the case.
Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Molly Matthews and Luke Calhoun prosecuted the case, assisted by District Attorney Investigators Michael Coleman and Ryan Harvey, and Legal Secretary Madeline McGee.
#####
