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Press Release

Dona Ana County Man Arraigned on Federal Child Pornography Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico
Defendant Prosecuted Under Project Safe Childhood

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal grand jury has filed an indictment charging Juan Martin Rosales, 48, of Chaparral, N.M., with child pornography offenses, announced by Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney, Acting Special Agent in Charge Jack P. Staton of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Sheriff Enrique Vigil of the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, Chief Patrick Gallagher of the Las Cruces Police Department and Sheriff Benny House of the Otero County Sheriff’s Office.

 

The 18-count indictment charges Rosales with 15 counts of producing child pornography and three counts of possessing child pornography.  The indictment alleges that Rosales produced child pornography four times on Sept 28, 2016, and 11 times on Sept. 30, 2016.  The indictment further alleges that on Oct. 16, 2017, Rosales possessed child pornography on two micro SD cards and a smartphone.  According to the indictment, Rosales committed the crimes in Otero County, N.M.

 

Rosales was arraigned on the indictment in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., yesterday and entered a not guilty plea.  Rosales has been detained since Oct. 2017, when he was arrested on a criminal complaint.  He remains in federal custody pending trial, which has not yet been scheduled.

 

The criminal complaint filed against Rosales in Oct. 2017, charged him with child exploitation and child pornography offenses, and alleged that Rosales sexually exploited children and received and possessed child pornography from Oct. 2015 through Oct 16, 2017, in Dona Ana County, N.M.  According to the complaint, the investigation into Rosales was initiated in April 2017, when Rosales’ neighbors went to the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office to report that Rosales allegedly possessed a tablet computer containing child pornography.  The complaint further alleged that Rosales used a cellular phone to take photographs of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  During the execution of a search warrant on Oct. 16, 2017, law enforcement agents allegedly recovered numerous SD cards, cellular phones, a tablet computer and other electronic devices from Rosales’ home, which allegedly contained child pornography. 

 

If convicted of producing child pornography, Rosales faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison.  If convicted of possessing child pornography, Rosales faces a maximum penalty of 20 years 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 Las Cruces office of Homeland Security Investigations, the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, Las Cruces Police Department and the Otero County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander B. Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case 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/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.

Updated January 23, 2018

Topic
Project Safe Childhood