A former assistant coach at St. Thomas More High School has admitted to a federal child exploitation crime.
Angel Cardona, 35, was one of two STM coaches fired and indicted on child sex charges in 2023. The other, Jacob De La Paz, is set for trial in March.
Cardona pleaded guilty to one count of the indictment against him; in exchange, the government agreed to dismiss the other two charges after he is sentenced. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The indictment accused Cardona of attempting to create child pornography on July 11 and July 13 of last year, and of using a facility between June 6 and June 24 to entice a child to engage in criminal sexual activity.
In court, he admitted to the enticement charge, admitting that he reached out to a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl in early June 2023. The person, to whom he was speaking online, said they were going to summer school and Cardona said he "thought I could help them." He continued talking to the person - who actually was an FBI agent - for about five weeks.
Then he asked for pictures of her, and agreed to meet her in person; they made a date to meet at Veteran's Park in Lafayette on July 24. Cardona told the judge that he asked for sexually explicit photos of the child. He used the Whisper and Kik apps, records show.
A release from the U.S. Attorney's Office described the conversations as being "about sex, sexual experiences, and the undercover agent’s body."
"On numerous occasions, the undercover agent made reference to her age of 13. The conversations regarding her sexual inexperience increased over time becoming more graphic and detailed. Over time, Cardona began asking the undercover agent for pictures of herself and eventually, asked for images containing sexual material," the release states. "On July 11 and 13, 2023, Cardona specifically and explicitly asked for the undercover agent to produce and send him child pornography. The undercover agent gave excuses of her mother’s presence in the home for not complying and Cardona instructed her to be sneaky about it in order to create the images."
Cardona has been held in prison since he was arrested last year, without any objections filed on his behalf. He had a trial date set for next month.
The indictment, which you can read by scrolling down, accuses Cardona of trying to entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct in order to produce child pornography twice during July. It also alleges he used a "facility and means of interstate commerce" to entice the minor to engage in criminal sexual conduct between June 6 and July 24.
Cardona was arrested on July 23. That same day, STM sent an email to parents telling them about the arrest, and informing them that he had been fired. It also said that he was hired after the last day of school, which was May 25 according to the school's online-calendar, and that he had participated in summertime coaching duties. Summer workouts for the school's football team began June 5, according to the school's website. To read about his arrest, including the school's full email, click here.
Cardona is the second STM coach fired last year after being accused of child sex crimes.
Back in April, another STM coach, De La Paz, was fired after a video was circulated online, apparently showing Delapaz saying sexually explicit things to someone he tutors. As KATC investigates reported, Delapaz had previously been disciplined in Arkansas for inappropriate text messages to a student.
Despite that, he was hired in Vermilion Parish, and later by St. Thomas More High School. He now is being held in jail, awaiting trial on federal child exploitation charges. He's accused of attempted production of child pornography; prosecutors allege he enticed a minor to create child pornography. For months after his arrest, he still appeared on the STM website, in photos of the football team and the school's football coaches.
To read more about the Delapaz case, click here and here. His trial is now set for February 20. His attorneys have been filing pre-trial documents in the case, records show.
Here's Cardona's indictment:
