Federal Grand Jury Charges Non-Indian Man from Espanola with Federal Child Sexual Abuse Offenses

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal grand jury has filed an indictment charging Kevin Vigil, 52, a non-Indian man from Espanola, N.M., with child sexual abuse offenses, announced U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division, and Special Agent in Charge William McClure of District IV of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services.

The indictment charges Vigil with two counts of aggravated child sexual abuse.  The indictment alleges that Vigil sexually abused an Indian child under the age of twelve years on Feb. 4, 2018, on Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in Rio Arriba County, N.M.  Vigil is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 21, 2018. 

Vigil has been in federal custody since Feb. 17, 2018, following his arrest on a criminal complaint.  If convicted of the aggravated sexual abuse charges, Vigil faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of 30 years and a maximum of life in federal prison.   Charges in criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the Santa Fe office of the FBI and the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services with assistance from the Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Police Department and the New Mexico State Police.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback as part of the 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/.  Individuals with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse are encouraged to contact the Children’s Advocacy Center tipline at (575) 526-3437.