Frederick and Carey Gonzales Sentenced to Federal Prison on Child Pornography Convictions
Frederick Gonzales Sentenced to 97-Months in Prison, and Carey Gonzales Sentenced to 36-Months in Prison

ALBUQUERQUE—Frederick Gonzales, 43, and his wife Carey Gonzales, 37, both of Albuquerque, New Mexico, were sentenced this morning for their convictions on federal child pornography charges. Frederick Gonzales was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release. Carey Gonzales was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release. Each also was ordered to pay $500 in restitution to the victim whose image was at issue in the child pornography offenses of conviction. Both will be required to register as sex offenders after they complete their respective prison sentences.

The sentences imposed on the couple were announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough; New Mexico Attorney General Gary K. King; Carol K.O. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI; and Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston.

Frederick and Carey Gonzales were arrested on state child pornography charges on January 11, 2013. At that time, Frederick Gonzales was the incoming president of Albuquerque’s Young America Football League (YAFL), and Carey Gonzales was employed as a kindergarten teacher’s aide by the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS). Shortly thereafter, the YAFL removed Frederick Gonzales from his position with the organization and APS fired Carey Gonzales. On January 18, 2013, the couple was arrested on criminal complaints alleging federal child pornography charges by members of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

Frederick and Carey Gonzales were indicted on February 6, 2013, in a six-count indictment charging Frederick Gonzales with three counts of receipt of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and two counts of possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also charged Carey Gonzales with one count of possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The charges against Frederick and Carey Gonzales were the result of an undercover investigation initiated by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office in September 2012 that identified an IP address subscribed to Frederick Gonzales as one that was used to possess, receive, and distribute child pornography. As a result of the investigation, on January 11, 2013, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the Gonzales residence and seized computers and computer-related media that contained videos and images consistent with child pornography.

On May 29, 2013, Frederick Gonzales entered a guilty plea to count one of the indictment charging him with receipt of child pornography. In his plea agreement, Frederick Gonzales acknowledged that, on January 11, 2013, he voluntarily participated in a recorded interview during which he admitted watching child pornography videos and that he had been downloading child pornography videos using a file-sharing program for approximately six months. On that same day, Carey Gonzales entered a guilty plea to count six of the indictment charging her with possession of child pornography and admitted watching child pornography videos that her husband downloaded and saved.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlyn E. Rees and was investigated by the following members of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force: the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the Albuquerque Field Office of the FBI, and the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensic Lab.

The case was brought 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/.

The case also was brought as part of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico. There are 64 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies associated with the ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office. Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.