Prewitt Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison on Aggravated Child Sexual Abuse Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE—Justin Kenneth, 21, a member and resident of the Navajo Nation who resides in Prewitt, New Mexico, was sentenced this morning to nine years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, on his aggravated child sexual abuse conviction. He also was ordered to pay $2,411 in restitution. Kenneth will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

The sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough, Special Agent Carol K.O. Lee of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI, and Director John Billison of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.

Kenneth was arrested in December 2010 on a criminal complaint alleging that he sexually abused a child under the age of 12 in October 2010 on the Navajo Indian Reservation. On April 29, 2013, Kenneth entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with aggravated sexual abuse and admitted sexually abusing the child victim by improperly touching the child’s genitalia. Kenneth further admitted that he committed this crime on October 6, 2010, at a residence located on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Kenneth has been in federal custody since entering his guilty plea.

This case was investigated by the Gallup Office of the FBI and the Crownpoint Office of the Navajo Division of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob A. Wishard prosecuted 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/.