Casamero Lake Man Sentenced to Twelve Years for Federal Child Sexual Abuse Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Arthur L. Ganadonegro, 24, was sentenced this afternoon to 144 months in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for his aggravated child sexual abuse conviction.  Ganadonegro also will be required to register as a sex offender.
              
Ganadonegro, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Casamero Lake, N.M., was arrested in March 2014, on a criminal complaint alleging that he sexually abused two Acoma Pueblo children when they were less than 12 years of age.  Ganadonegro subsequently was charged in a four-count indictment with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and two counts of abusive sexual contact.  The indictment alleged that Ganadonegro sexually abused one of the victims between Sept. 2013 and Nov. 2013, on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County, N.M.  It further alleged that Ganadonegro sexually abused the other victim between April 2008 and Dec. 2008, in a location within Acoma Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M.
           
On Oct. 7, 2014, Ganadonegro pled guilty to a felony information charging him with aggravated sexual abuse and admitted that between April 2008 and Dec. 2008, he engaged in a sexual act with a child under the age of 12 years.  He also acknowledged committing the crime in Acoma Pueblo.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and the Pueblo of Acoma Tribal Police Department. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline D. Wilson 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/.