Fort Stanton man pleads guilty to possession of child pornography

              ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Christopher Bryant, 47, of Fort Stanton, New Mexico, pleaded guilty on Jan. 12 to possession of child pornography. Bryant will remain in custody pending sentencing.

              In the plea agreement, Bryant admitted that on or about Aug. 13, 2020, he used a social media application on his cell phone to obtain images of child pornography and then emailed the images to himself. Bryant also admitted that he knew the images depicted children engaging in sexually explicit conduct and that the images were of real children, rather than computer generated images or adult actors portraying children. “At the time of the offense, Bryant was a detective for the Ruidoso Police Department.”

               By the terms of the plea agreement, Bryant will serve three years in federal prison. Bryant must also register as a sex offender.

               The case was investigated by the FBI with the support of the Ruidoso Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matilda McCarthy Villalobos and Dustin Segovia are prosecuting the case.