The Buffalo Soldier Gate at Fort Bliss, Texas. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

A soldier found to have a teenage girl living with him for nearly four months in his Fort Bliss barracks room was sentenced to eight years in federal prison, according to the Justice Department.

Carlos Humberto Richard Walsh, 23, of Washington brought the girl to stay with him in his room in 2022 and had sex with her multiple times, according to court records. He was a specialist assigned to the base but is no longer in the Army, according to the Justice Department.

The girl was 14 years old at the time, according to the El Paso Times.

Walsh’s leaders found the girl in his car on Jan. 24, 2023, during a barracks inspection, as well as many of her personal items in his room. She told police that she had been living in the barracks room with Walsh since Oct. 1, 2022, according to court documents. He was arrested May 25, 2023.

The soldier first enlisted in March 2019 as an Apache helicopter mechanic and was discharged at the rank of private one month after his arrest, according to his official service record. 

Walsh pleaded guilty Aug. 13 and was sentenced by Judge David Guaderrama in El Paso, the city located just outside the gates of Fort Bliss in west Texas.

A hearing to discuss restitution is set for March 27, according to the online court docket.