A 42-year-old McAllen man will spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges of sexual exploitation of minors, children and coercion or enticement of minors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Reid Etheridge confessed to filming himself sexually abusing two minor children from January 2020 through October 2020 and uploading the assaults online, according to a news release.

A 30-year-old Edinburg woman – Alicia Cronkhite – pled guilty to charges of distributing child pornography and sexual exploitation of children in connection with the case.

Cronkhite will serve nearly 16 years in prison after admitting to photographing the exposed genitals of a minor and sending the photo to Etheridge, the news release stated.

The investigation began when authorities identified an IP address in McAllen that had uploaded images and videos depicting minor children engaged in sex acts, the news release stated. While executing a search warrant, law enforcement authorities encountered Etheridge at the residence on October 2020, and he admitted he had filmed himself sexually assaulting one minor victim.

“Further investigation revealed communication between Etheridge and Cronkhite detailing the sexual exploitation of another minor victim,” the release stated.” Authorities searched her residence, at which time she admitted she produced multiple images of a minor victim and transmitted the images to Etheridge.”

Etheridge and Cronkite remain in custody pending transfer to a prison facility.