Hobbs Woman Arrested on Federal Production and Distribution of Child Pornography Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – Kyla Norby, 27, of Hobbs, N.M., made her initial appearance in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., this morning on a criminal complaint charging her with production and distribution of child pornography.  Norby remains in federal custody pending a preliminary hearing and detention hearing, which have yet to be scheduled.

The criminal complaint alleges that Norby produced and distributed child pornography between May 1, 2015 and Dec. 30, 2015, in Lea County, N.M.  According to the criminal complaint, the investigation into Norby was initiated after Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents from Laredo, Tex., arrested a man in Odessa, Tex., who revealed that Norby made a two-year old child sexually available to him.  The criminal complaint further alleges that a search of the man’s smartphone revealed photos of Norby that included images consistent with child pornography.  The man alleged that Norby sent the images to him from her smartphone.

Norby was arrested on Jan. 14, 2016, in Odessa, Tex., and was transferred to New Mexico to face the charges against her. 

If convicted on the production charge, Norby faces a statutory mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison.  If convicted on the distribution charge, she faces a statutory mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.  Charges in criminal complaints 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 HSI and the Lea Country Sheriff’s Office, both members of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, with assistance from HSI in Laredo, Texas.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Lizarraga of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

This case is being 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/.

The case was brought as a part of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico.  There are 82 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the Office of the New Mexico Attorney General.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.