Arizona Man Faces Federal Child Sexual Exploitation Charges in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE—Noah John Carney, 19, of Phoenix, Arizona, made his initial appearance in federal court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on a criminal complaint charging him with enticing a minor to engage in explicit conduct and attempting to induce a minor to produce child pornography.

According to the criminal complaint, in August 2013, a 13-year-old child (child victim) began “chatting” with Carney on her cellular telephone after meeting him through an Internet game. Carney allegedly told the child victim that he was a 19-year-old man, and he learned that the child victim was 13 years old. Over the next two weeks, Carney allegedly asked the child victim to send him naked photos of herself. Carney also allegedly e-mailed a nude photo of himself to the child victim. The complaint further alleges that Carney instructed the child victim on how to access and view pornography on the Internet. Carney also allegedly inquired about meeting the child victim at hotels near her home for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct.

According to the complaint, the FBI performed a search of the child victim’s cellular telephone and Kindle device and found Carney’s nude photo and some of the “chats” between Carney and the child victim. In mid-September 2013, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) joined the FBI’s investigation and an APD officer assumed the child victim’s online identity and began communicating with Carney. During an October 3, 2013 “chat,” Carney allegedly asked the officer who was posing as the child victim for a sexually explicit photo, and on the following day, Carney allegedly sent the officer a video of an adult engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Carney was arrested in Phoenix by the FBI on October 24, 2013, and was transferred to Las Cruces yesterday. If convicted on the charges in the complaint, Carney faces a federal prison sentence of not less than 25 years and not more than 50 years. If convicted, Carney also would be required to register as a sex offender. Carney faces enhanced penalties because he previously was convicted of a sex-related offense. Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces Office of the FBI and APD, and it is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Wright of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

The case was filed as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 http://www.justice.gov/psc/.