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Family and acquaintances, including a former Fort Worth police lieutenant,
submitted letters to the court vouching for McDaniel’s character.
There were other issues, however, presented to the judge. While McDaniel was
being held in federal lockup awaiting sentencing, he had corresponded with his
victim, despite being ordered not to contact her, the court record shows.
Still, Hunt argued that a sentence of five years was overly harsh.
Villafaña disagreed, but conceded that McDaniel would benefit from psychological
treatment. She advocated for a sentence of five to sex years, which was at the low
end of the guideline.
It was then that the judge heard from the victim’s mother.
In a statement, the mother decried the emotional and mental trauma her daughter
suffered and the long road to recovery she had ahead of her. The mother mentioned
she was further upset that McDaniel continued contact with her daughter after his
arrest and she said she believed that McDaniel was still trying to manipulate her
daughter by blaming her for his arrest.
The mother pointed out that prior to their sexual encounter, McDaniel had directed
her daughter to watch sexually explicit movies and had described for her sex
activities he had had with another underage girl.
At that point, the judge interrupted.
“…There has been some reference to another incident with a minor girl. What do
you know about that, if anything?” Zloch asked Villafaña.

Former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta never told sexual-abuse victims of a lenient plea
deal for Jeffrey Epstein.
Getty Images
Only then did Zloch learn that McDaniel had preyed on other girls over the internet,
including a 16-year-old California girl whom he brought to Texas and impregnated.
He was also having another relationship with a 15-year-old girl at the time of his
arrest, Villafaña admitted in court.
The judge promptly sentenced McDaniel to 10 years — twice what Villafaña
recommended.
Three months later, in January 2007, after reviewing the entire case, Zloch issued
an order excoriating Villafaña for failing to tell him about McDaniel’s prior history.
“The serial nature of defendant’s seduction of minor girls was revealed for the first
time to the court upon the Government’s response to the Court’s inquiry,” Zloch

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