Former Middle School Health Aide Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Aaron Leon Happy was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Happy, 42, of Shiprock, New Mexico, pled guilty on February 27, 2023, to possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

            According to court records, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from Facebook in July 2019 about a user’s activity. Specifically, Facebook disclosed that the user, “Aaron Happ,” was engaging multiple minors in sexually explicit conversations on its platform. The tip was sent to the FBI, who identified the user as Happy, who then worked as a health aide at the Newcomb Middle School located within the exterior boundaries of the Navajo Nation.

On Dec. 15, 2020, the FBI executed a search warrant on Happy’s person, office, and residence. Investigators found a trove of videos and images of children being sexually assaulted on one of Happy’s cellular telephones which he obtained from the internet.

            Upon his release from prison, Happy will be subject to supervised release for life and must register as a sex offender.

            The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI investigated this case with assistance from the FBI Albuquerque’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, the FBI Gallup Resident Agency, the FBI Denver - Durango Resident Agency, the San Juan County (New Mexico) Sheriff’s Office, the Cortez (Colorado) Police Department and the Montezuma County (Colorado) Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jaymie L. Roybal is prosecuting the case.

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