Albuquerque Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sexual Exploitation and Pornography Charges

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning in federal court in Albuquerque, Kevin Dwyer, a 36-year-old Albuquerque resident, pleaded guilty to child sexual exploitation and child pornography charges under a plea agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Dwyer will serve a 20-year term of imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Dwyer also will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence. Dwyer has been in federal custody since his arrest on August 2, 2010, and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be set.

United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said Dwyer entered a guilty plea to a two-count indictment charging him with (i) using the Internet, computers, and telephones to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity; and (ii) attempted production of child pornography.

In his plea agreement, Dwyer admitted that, from June 24, 2010 to June 26, 2010, he used the Internet and telephone to have conversations that were sexual in nature with a person he believed to be an 11-year-old female (female). During these conversations with the female, Dwyer discussed traveling to Clovis, New Mexico from Albuquerque for the purpose of having sexual contact with the female. Dwyer admitted traveling to Clovis on June 26, 2010 for this unlawful purpose and was arrested by Curry County Sheriff’s deputies on his arrival at the female’s residence. During a search incident to Dwyer’s arrest, the deputies found a digital camera in one of Dwyer’s pockets, which Dwyer admitted he intended to use to create sexually explicitly images of the female. Dwyer further admitted that, during a tape-recorded interview following his arrest, he told the deputies that he met an 11-year-old female on the Internet; had sexually explicit conversations with the female; and traveled to Clovis for the purpose of having sex with the female.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Charlyn E. Rees, and was investigated by the Curry County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Albuquerque Police Department. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case also was brought as part of the New Mexico ICAC whose mission it is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico. There are 61 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies associated with the Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the NMAGO. Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.