Houston career criminal agrees to serving decades in prison for luring 16-year-old online for sex

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A 41-year-old man agreed to two 25-year sentences for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl after luring her to a motel using social media, according to the district attorney's office.

The video above is ABC13's 24/7 livestream.

Officials said the assault happened in January 2021 at a motel located at 8950 Fallbrook Drive.

David St. John pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexual assault of a child between the age of 14 and 17 and to a charge of felon in possession of a weapon in exchange for two 25-year sentences.

"As a condition of the plea agreement, St. John cannot appeal the conviction or the sentence. Because he used a deadly weapon, he must serve at least half of the prison sentence before he is eligible for parole. He must also register as a sex offender for life," the district attorney's office.

In 2021, Harris County deputies responded to a welfare check and found the victim and St. John in the motel room. The 16-year-old told investigators that John liked her pictures on Instagram, and they started talking.

Investigators said he lied to get her to agree to meet him. Once the teenager was in his car, he took her to the motel in northwest Houston without her consent, according to deputies.

Deputies said when he got her in the motel room, he pistol-whipped her with a silver 9mm semi-automatic pistol and continued to beat and sexually assaulted her.

The victim also told investigators in 2021 that St. John held a gun to her head and made her consume ice, which was determined to be methamphetamine.