Army Staff Sgt. Ulises Moore-Ramirez was sentenced Feb. 19, 2025, to 31 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including sexual abuse of a child, extortion and desertion. He evaded authorities for nine years before being caught at the U.S.-Mexico border in July 2024. (Joseph Barron/U.S. Air Force)
An Army staff sergeant who fled to avoid prosecution on charges of child pornography production and child sexual abuse had his day of reckoning after nearly a decade on the run.
Ulises Moore-Ramirez, 48, was sentenced to 31 years in prison for crimes committed while he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., between 2013 and 2014.
Moore-Ramirez victimized 19 children across the United States, prosecutors said in a Feb. 26 statement announcing his sentencing.
In addition to his prison term, Moore-Ramirez was dishonorably discharged, demoted to private and ordered to forfeit all pay and allowances. He will have to register as a sex offender after his release.
On Feb. 19 during a court-martial, he pleaded guilty to charges including sexual abuse of a child, extortion, production and possession of child pornography and desertion, according to the Army statement.
At the time of the offenses, Moore-Ramirez was a construction engineer with the 1st Engineer Brigade, prosecutors said.
He posed online as a teenager, using explicit language to solicit pornographic images from minors, according to the statement.
A parent in Sioux City, Iowa, reported suspicious online interactions to local authorities, who identified the suspect as an active-duty service member and alerted the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division.
Moore-Ramirez was set to be arraigned in April 2015 but deserted before the hearing, landing him on the Army’s most-wanted list. His family ties to Missouri and Mexico, his place of birth, were noted in the listing, Army Times reported in 2015.
He remained a deserter until July 2024, when he was apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border and returned to military custody.
“With tremendous support … we were able to bring justice to survivors across the country,” prosecutor Capt. Matt Fine said in the statement. “The extraordinary strength and resilience of the survivors in this case meant that although justice was delayed because of the accused’s desertion, it was not denied.”
