Crownpoint Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sexual Abuse Charge

ALBUQUERQUE—Jimmie Edward Augustine, Sr., 69, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Crownpoint, New Mexico, Pueblo, pleaded guilty this morning to an abusive sexual contact charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Augustine was arrested on November 6, 2013, on a two-count indictment charging him with aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact with a child who had not attained the age of 12 years. According to the indictment, Augustine committed the offenses between May 2011 and September 2011 in a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Today, Augustine pleaded guilty to count two of the indictment charging him with abusive sexual contact. Augustine admitted engaging in a sexual act with a child who was under 12 years of age by intentionally touching the child’s genitals and buttocks.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Augustine will be sentenced to 24 months in prison, to be followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. Augustine will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence. The sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI and the Gallup Police Department, with assistance from the New Mexico Children-Youth and Families Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito. The case was brought 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/.