Kentucky Man Receives 12-Year Prison Sentence for Federal Child Sexual Exploitation Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning in federal court in Santa Fe, Craig Andrew Armstrong, 25, of Louisville, Kentucky, was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release for his conviction on a child sexual exploitation offense. Armstrong, who has been in federal custody since September 28, 2010, will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said officers of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Armstrong, who was in the company of a 12-year old girl, in a local motel, on September 27, 2010. Court records show that officers went to the motel after the child’s mother reported receiving an anonymous call alerting her that the child was in the motel. During a safe house interview, the child admitted meeting Armstrong in August 2010 through an Internet website and, after that, Armstrong communicated with her by cell phone and texting. The child said she received a text message from Armstrong on September 26, 2010 notifying her that he was in Albuquerque. She reported that Armstrong took her to the motel, where he performed sexual acts on her.

On March 11, 2011, Armstrong pleaded guilty to traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual contact under a plea agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office. In his plea agreement, Armstrong admitted traveling from Kentucky to Albuquerque for the purpose of having sexual intercourse with the child and that he in fact had intercourse with the child various times from September 26, 2010 to September 27, 2010. Armstrong also admitted that he was 24 at the time and believed that the child was 14, and that he knew the child did not have her parents’ permission to be with him.

The case was investigated by the APD, the FBI and the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Bernalillo County, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Charlyn Rees. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.