Sex offender who blackmailed Rio Grande Valley teenagers sentenced to 50 years in prison

McALLEN, TEXAS (ValleyCentral) — A sex offender who blackmailed two Rio Grande Valley teenagers was sentenced to 50 years in prison Tuesday.

Michael Tienping Tang — a sex offender from Alexandria, Virginia — contacted two La Joya Independent School District students on Facebook and convinced them to send him pornographic videos. After he received the videos, Tang threatened to contact their friends and families unless the teenagers created more sexually explicit content.

“I’m sorry to all my victims,” Tang said on Tuesday afternoon, when he appeared before a judge for sentencing. “And I wish I could tell them or write them to let them know.”

The case against Tang started in 2017, when federal agents received a troubling tip.

An administrator at Juarez-Lincoln High School, which serves a rural part of western Hidalgo County, believed that someone had taken advantage of two teenagers.

Documents filed in the case identify them as “Minor Victim 1,” a 15-year-old boy, and “Minor Victim 2,” a 16-year-old girl.

The teenagers said that someone using the name “Roxanna Scarlett” sent them friend requests on Facebook.

Roxanna Scarlett asked the teenagers for nude photos and pornographic videos of themselves.

“Minor Victims 1 and 2 complied with that request,” according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. “Shortly after, Minor Victims 1 and 2 blocked ‘Roxanna Scarlett’ from their Facebook accounts.”

After they blocked Roxanna Scarlett, the person behind the account started contacting their friends.

The teenagers decided to unblock Roxanna Scarlett, who demanded they create more pornographic videos.

“‘Roxanna Scarlett’ threatened to release, to friends and family members, the already collected images and videos of Minor Victims 1 and 2 if they refused to comply,” according to the criminal complaint.

The threats worked.

“Minor Victim 1 and Minor Victim 2 engaged in various sexual acts with each other,” according to the criminal complaint. “These acts of sexually explicit conduct were video recorded and delivered to ‘Roxanna Scarlett’ via Facebook.”

Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of U.S. Department of Homeland Security, obtained a warrant for the Roxanna Scarlett account in May 2017.

Information provided by Facebook linked the account to Tang, a sex offender with prior convictions for possession of child pornography.

“The results of the Facebook warrant also reveal that the ‘Roxanna Scarlett’ profile reached out to over fifty minor victims on Facebook in an attempt to persuade them into sending child pornographic photos and/or videos of themselves,” according to the criminal complaint.

At least five children responded.

“In one instance, ‘Roxanna Scarlett’ persuaded a minor male, Minor Victim 3, to sexually assault his 10-year-old sister,” according to the criminal complaint.

Tang pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of children.

On Tuesday, when Tang returned to court for sentencing, he apologized.

“I was very lonely and had no one to help me,” Tang said. “And my life was going downhill.”

Tang made comments that suggested he’d been the victim of sexual abuse, but he did not provide any details. Tang said he was trying to get “revenge” and didn’t plan to victimize other people.

“I didn’t mean to end up this way,” Tang said.

Tang asked Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane for a “chance.”

Crane, however, said Tang posed a danger to children.

“This was not a one-time, aberrant behavior,” Crane said, adding that Tang had multiple convictions and more than 50 victims.

Crane sentenced Tang to 50 years in prison. After being released, Tang must spend the remainder of his life on supervised release.