AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas man who moonlighted as a Santa Claus during the holiday season and was arrested on Christmas Eve pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to charges including distribution of child pornography, U.S. prosecutors in Texas said.
Reynaldo Ramirez, 38, a Santa Claus-for-hire in south Texas for about 15 years, faces between five to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on August 10, they said.
He was arrested after federal investigators traced child pornography to an internet address associated with him, prosecutors said.
Ramirez, of Corpus Christi, admitted to downloading more than 1,000 images of child pornography and the sexual assault of a 4-year-old child, they said.
He has been in custody since his arrest on Dec. 24, 2015.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Dan Grebler)