Jury in Las Cruces, N.M. convicts man from Roswell, N.M. of federal child pornography charges

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A federal jury in Las Cruces, New Mexico returned a verdict on January 28 convicting Dain Justin Adams, 38, of Roswell, New Mexico, of child pornography charges including distribution, receipt, and possession of sexually explicit material.

            A grand jury previously returned a fourth superseding indictment on Dec. 17, 2019, charging Adams with two counts of distribution and one count each of possession, receipt, and conspiracy to produce visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  The indictment also charged Adams with one count of traveling across state lines with the intent to commit aggravated sexual abuse.  The conduct charged in the indictment covered the period from July 3, 2012, to June 27, 2018.  The jury returned a guilty verdict convicting Adams of each count except for traveling across state lines with the intent to commit aggravated sexual abuse.

            According to public court records and trial testimony, law enforcement officers identified an internet protocol address at a residence in Roswell that was being used to access child pornography.  Officers traced this IP address to Adams’s home.  Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the location on June 27, 2018, and found child pornography on electronic devices, including computers.  The evidence at trial connected Adams to this child pornography.  

            A co-defendant in the case, Jade Tiffany Laurezo, 35, Maigao Iloilo, Philippines previously pleaded guilty on Oct. 31, 2019, to production of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Laurezo testified at trial about chat messages she exchanged with Adams discussing their plans to acquire children as sex slaves and sexually abuse these children together. 

            Adams in currently in custody awaiting sentencing.  He faces 15 to 30 years in prison for conspiracy to produce, 10 to 20 years in prison for possession, and five to 20 years in prison for distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Laurezo is also scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.

            The Roswell office of the FBI investigated this case with assistance from the FBI’s Las Cruces office, Homeland Security Investigations, the Chaves County Sheriff’s Department, the Las Cruces Police Department, and the Regional Computer Forensics Lab in Albuquerque.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marisa A. Ong and Dustin C. Segovia of the Las Cruces Branch Office are prosecuting the case.