San Antonio counselor sentenced to prison for sexually exploiting child

The former president of the Texas Counseling Association will spend nearly three decades in prison for sexual exploitation of a child, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Adrian Scott Warren, 47, of San Antonio, was sentenced in federal court to 28 years in prison for one count of sexual exploitation of a child, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Jaime Esparza said in a news release Thursday.

Court documents state that Warren sent a private message over a dating application to an FBI-controlled undercover profile. The conversation then moved to a messenger application.

Documents state that Warren said he was interested in "young" and had been having sexual contact with a boy since the child was 7 years old, the news release said.

Warren told the undercover agent he wanted to meet to have sex with the user's 9-year-old nephew and watch child sexual abuse material, authorities said. He also offered to take the boy he had abused with him. In a Nov. 15, 2023, news release, authorities said Warren also used the app to send two photos of a man sexually assaulting a child.

On Aug. 4, 2022, Warren went to a hotel where he thought he was going to meet and have sex with the 9-year-old. Instead, he was met by FBI agents who seized his cellphone.

A Child Protective Services special investigator interviewed Warren the next day. During the interview, Warren identified the boy and admitted he had sexually assaulted him.

He also admitted he had child pornography showing children between the ages of 0 and 17 years.

Warren was arrested Aug. 5, 2022, and was indicted on one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography.

He pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child on Nov. 14, 2023, authorities said.

After he is released from prison, he will serve a lifetime of supervised release.

Warren also was ordered to pay $140,840 to the victim impacted by the sexual exploitation charge, as well as $100,000 to 20 other victims whose images he had.

The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative that fights child sexual exploitation and abuse. It unites federal, state and local resources to prosecute criminals who exploit children via the Internet. It also identifies and rescues victims.