A federal magistrate this week ordered that Timothy Joseph Benz, 30, of Snyder remain locked up pending his trial date.
On May 9, Benz was indicted by a federal grand jury in Lubbock for enticement of a minor.
He was accused of contacting a 15-year-old girl via text message.
Court records said, “The messages from Benz asked the minor if she was attracted to older men, and the minor immediately informed her parents and law enforcement.”
Benz’s defense attorney wrote a brief in support of allowing Benz to be released on bond. It said there was no further contact between Benz and the girl.
Prosecutors in court records said, “The United States admitted into evidence a police report describing Benz’s continued contact with minors several months after the events described in the Indictment.”
“Benz has continued to contact minors in a sexually suggestive way,” prosecutors wrote in court records.
A magistrate found that Benz was not able to provide a suitable third-party custodian as a condition of release.
A trial date was tentatively set for July 2.
