Former Licensed Counselor Sentenced to 28 Years in Federal Prison for Sexually Exploiting Children

SAN ANTONIO - A San Antonio man, who had served as the president of the Texas Counseling Association, was sentenced in federal court to 28 years in prison for one count of sexual exploitation of children.

According to court documents, Adrian Scott Warren, 47, sent a private message over a dating application to an FBI-controlled undercover profile. The conversation transitioned to a messenger application where Warren stated he was interested in "young" and had been engaging in sexual contact with a minor male since the child was seven years old. Warren told the undercover agent that he wanted to meet up to engage in sexual activity and watch child sexual abuse material and offered to bring the child victim with him.

On Aug. 4, 2022, Warren traveled to a hotel where he believed he was going to meet a nine year old child and engage in sexual activity. He instead was met by FBI agents who seized his cellphone. The following day, a Child Protective Services Special Investigator interviewed Warren, who identified the child victim and admitted that he had sexually assaulted the child. He also admitted to possessing child pornography depicting various children between the ages of 0 and 17 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Warren was arrested Aug. 5, 2022, and indicted for one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to count one on Nov. 14, 2023. Following his 28 year imprisonment, Warren will serve a lifetime of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $140,840 to the victim impacted by the sexual exploitation charge, and $100,000 to 20 additional victims, whose images Warren possessed.

U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

The FBI investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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