Non-Native Resident of Pojoaque Pueblo Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Charge

ALBUQUERQUE—Johncarlos Ortiz, 39, a non-native resident of Pojoaque Pueblo, New Mexico, pleaded guilty this morning to a felony information charging him with receipt of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct charges under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Ortiz was arrested in September 2012 on a criminal complaint alleging that he possessed and distributed child pornography at his residence in Pojoaque Pueblo. The investigation of this case was initiated in July 2012, after the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received information that images consistent with child pornography had been posted on a social networking site and sent the tip to the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office (NMAGO). In early August 2012, after determining that the images were posted using an e-mail account subscribed to Ortiz, the NMAGO and the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force contacted the FBI. On September 11, 2012, the FBI executed a federal search warrant at Ortiz’s residence and seized a computer and a computer flash drive that contained images consistent with child pornography.

During this morning’s proceedings, Ortiz admitted receiving a visual depiction of a minor involved in sexual explicit conduct on September 11, 2012. Ortiz also admitted downloading images consistent with child pornography from various websites. Court records reflect that Ortiz’s unlawful conduct occurred in a residence on the Pojoaque Pueblo.

Ortiz was remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after entering his guilty plea and he will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Ortiz faces a prison sentence of not less than five years and not more than 20 years followed by a term of supervised release to be set by the court. Ortiz also will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

The case was investigated by the Santa Fe office of the FBI, the NMAGO, and the New Mexico ICAC Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Wishard is prosecuting the case 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 Operation also was brought as a 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.