ALBUQUERQUE—This morning, Arnold
Gonzales made his initial appearance in federal court in Albuquerque on a
criminal complaint charging him with (1) interstate travel with intent to
engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, and (2) using communication
facilities to coerce and entice a minor to engage in a criminal sexual act.
Gonzales, 26, is a military recruiter employed by the U.S. Army who is
stationed in the U.S. Army Recruiting Station in Midland, Texas. If convicted
of the charges in the complaint, Gonzales faces a minimum of 10 years and up to
life imprisonment, and a lifetime of supervised release. Gonzales also will be
required to register as a sex offender, if convicted.
Gonzales was arrested in Clovis on May
2, 2012, and is temporarily detained pending a preliminary hearing and a
detention hearing, both of which are scheduled for May 4, 2012.
According to the criminal complaint,
between April 24, 2012 and May 2, 2012, Gonzales allegedly used a computer and
cellular phone to entice an individual whom he believed to be under 18 years of
age to engage in sexual activity. The complaint also alleges that Gonzales
traveled from Oklahoma, Oklahoma to Clovis, New Mexico for the purpose of
engaging in sexual activity with a person whom he believed to be a 12-year-old
girl.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said
that Gonzales was charged as the result of an undercover investigation by the
Curry County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). The complaint alleges that, on April 24,
2012, Gonzales responded to an online advertisement placed by a CCSO undercover
agent that was entitled, “CUTE/YOUNG IF AGE DOESN’T MATTER HIT ME UP,” in an
e-mail that included two photos of himself, including one in his military
uniform. Gonzales’ e-mail initiated a stream of e-mail and texting
communication during which the CCSO agent represented himself as a 12-year-old
girl whose family would be relocating to Germany in two weeks, and Gonzales
asked the “girl” to send him nude photos of herself in sexually explicit
positions and discussed the sexual acts that he wanted to engage in with the
“girl.”
The complaint alleges that on May 1,
2012, Gonzales sent a text to the CCSO agent indicating that he would be
traveling to Clovis the following day for the purpose of having sex with the
“girl.” On May 2, 2012, Gonzales allegedly arrived at a location in Clovis
provided to him by the CCSO agent and was arrested by the CCSO. According to
the complaint, Gonzales allegedly arrived in a vehicle with a government
license plate and was “on duty” when he was arrested.
The case was investigated by the CCSO
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant
U.S. Attorney Charlyn E. Rees. It 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 Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, 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 New Mexico Attorney General’s Office. Anyone with
information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is
encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.
Charges in criminal complaints are only
accusations. All criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt.
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