Las Cruces Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possessing Child Pornography

ALBUQUERQUE – Juan C. Rodriguez, 36, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced in Las Cruces federal court this morning for his child pornography conviction.  Rodriguez was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison to be followed by seven years of supervised release.  He will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

Rodriguez was arrested on April 23, 2014, by the FBI on an indictment charging him with possession of matter containing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  The indictment alleged that Rodriguez possessed child pornography in Doña Ana County, N.M., between June 2013 and Aug. 2013.

On Aug. 12, 2014, Rodriguez pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that between June 6, 2013 and Aug. 22, 2013, he used a computer and computer-related media to download child pornography using a peer-to-peer network.   Rodriguez acknowledged that law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at his residence on Aug. 22, 2013, and seized his computer and computer-related media.  He further acknowledged that a forensic examination of those items uncovered approximately 30 still images and five videos consistent with child pornography.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of FBI and the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory with assistance from the Denver office of the FBI.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander B. Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

This case was prosecuted 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/.