Kewa Pueblo Man Sentenced to 24 Months in Federal Prison for Child Sexual Abuse Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE—Calvin Tenorio, Sr., 65, a member and resident of Kewa Pueblo, was sentenced this afternoon to 24 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release for his child sex abuse conviction. Tenorio will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

Tenorio was arrested on January 10, 2013, based on a criminal complaint charging him with abusive sexual contact with a minor and subsequently was indicted on that same charge. According to the indictment, Tenorio sexually assaulted a child who had not attained the age of 12 years on November 28, 2012, by touching the child’s clothed genitals.

According to court filings, a member of the child’s family reported the sexual assault to Kewa Pueblo officials on November 28, 2012, and the Pueblo officials promptly referred the report to the BIA for investigation. After preliminary investigation, the BIA arrested Tenorio on tribal charges and referred the matter to the FBI for further investigation. Tenorio remained in tribal custody until his arrest on federal charges and has been in federal custody since that time.

On April 9, 2013, Tenorio pled guilty to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement. During his plea hearing, Tenorio admitted sexually assaulting a child under 12 years of age in a residence located in Kewa Pueblo.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque and Santa Fe Offices of the FBI and the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine Y. Ramirez 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/.