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Former UFC fighter takes plea agreement in child sexual exploitation case

Abel Trujillo, 36, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection to inappropriate messages sent to a minor. Three felony charges were dismissed.

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A former Ultimate Fighting Competition (UFC) fighter accepted a plea agreement Friday in Douglas County in a child sexual exploitation case, according to court records.

Abel Trujillo, 36, was arrested in July in connection to inappropriate messages sent though social media to a minor.

>The video above is a story from July 2019 about Trujillo's arrest.

On Friday, Trujillo pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of promoting obscenity. Three other charges, all felonies, were dismissed, court records show:

  • Attempted sexual exploitation of a child
  • Promotion of obscenity to a minor
  • Sexual exploitation of a child - self/publish

His sentencing is scheduled for April 6.

RELATED: Former UFC fighter arrested for sexual exploitation of a child

In October 2018, Castle Rock Police said they were notified that the victim received inappropriate messages through social media from an adult man. That man was later identified as Trujillo, according to the affidavit.

The girl first had contact with Trujillo in March 2018 when she received a friend request from him on Instagram, the affidavit states. She did not know Trujillo but told police she accepted the request "because Abel is a celebrity," according to the affidavit.

Not long after she accepted his friend request, she began receiving direct messages and "became uncomfortable with what was being discussed," the affidavit says. Abel also sent her nude photographs, according to the document.

She deleted the photos and messages between her and Abel and blocked him on all her social media accounts, the affidavit says. There was no contact between the two for several months, according to the document.

In October 2018, she received another message from Abel, the affidavit says. The victim said she "cleared" her social media accounts and believes that may have lifted the block she put on Abel, according to the affidavit.

During an interview with police that month, the victim told police she chatted with Trujillo on and off for several weeks earlier in the year and "liked the attention because Trujillo was a celebrity," the affidavit says. Then he "began discussing sex" and "sending nude pictures of himself to her," the affidavit says.

She never asked for the nude photos and told him multiple times to stop, according to the affidavit.

He "never specifically asked for nude images" of the victim but would regularly ask her for pictures and she "felt he was implying he wanted nudes," the affidavit states.

She blocked him and didn't think much of it until he began messaging her again several months later, according to the affidavit.

Investigators used Trujillo's social media accounts to track him down. Although no photos of his face were sent to the victim, investigators determined "the body style, tattoos and skin tone" were consistent with Trujillo, the affidavit says.

In February 2019, a search warrant was granted for his phone and "dozens of photos of nude young women were located," the affidavit says. At the time the affidavit was written in October, it states "the ages of those females cannot be determined."

When contacted by police, Trujillo eventually acknowledged that "he has had multiple conversations with females under the age of 18" and admitted to sending nude photos, according to the affidavit.

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