Hooks man pleads guilty to sexually exploiting 13-year-old he flew to Virginia to meet

TEXARKANA, Texas – A Hooks man accused of flying to Virginia in 2024 to have sex with a 13-year-old he met online pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to sexually exploiting the child.

Dennis Lee Chilton entered the plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Boone Baxter in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas to a single count of sexual exploitation of children, court records show. The charge carries 15 to 30 years in federal prison.

Chilton was 63 when he was arrested in August 2024. He has been held in the Bowie County jail on related state charges with bonds totaling $2 million since then.

In a factual basis filed Friday and signed by Chilton and his attorney, Eric Marks of Texarkana, Chilton admitted he met the child on an online messaging platform, exchanged phone numbers and knew the whole time that the child was under 18. He was 62 and 63 during the conversations, the document says.

Between Oct. 20, 2023, and July 31, 2024, Chilton sent the child money through CashApp, gave the child his credit card number to buy “items they wanted but could not afford,” and bought and shipped other items directly to the child, according to the factual basis. The money and gifts were worth more than $6,000 in all.

Chilton admitted he asked the child for sexually explicit photos and videos and that the images he received were made at his request. On June 21, 2024, he traveled from Hooks to Virginia to meet the child and recorded a video of himself engaging in sexual conduct with the child, the document says.

After investigators seized his cellphone under a search warrant on July 24, 2024, Chilton told the child not to talk to police if they called, he admitted.

The case was investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Homeland Security Investigations and the Hooks Police Department. Acting on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, DPS investigators obtained a search warrant for Chilton’s home in Hooks and took his phone during a traffic stop, according to a probable cause affidavit reported by TXKtoday in September 2024. Investigators said the phone held hundreds of images of child sexual abuse along with videos of Chilton abusing the Virginia child, which they used to identify the victim.

Chilton was booked into the Bowie County jail Aug. 27, 2024, on state charges of online solicitation of a minor, two counts of promotion of child pornography and possession of child pornography. A federal grand jury indicted him in October 2024 on four counts: coercion and enticement of a minor, travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography.

The plea agreement is sealed. As part of the plea, Chilton agreed to forfeit two Samsung smartphones, an Amazon Kindle tablet, four hard drives, two desktop computers, a laptop and a backup disc.

Baxter recommended that U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III accept the plea. Either side has 14 days to object to the recommendation. A sentencing date had not been set as of Friday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Richards is prosecuting the case.