ALBUQUERQUE - Nathan R. Platero, 41, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Tohajiilee, N.M., was sentenced this morning to ten years in federal prison followed by ten years of supervised release for his child sex abuse conviction. Platero will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.
Platero was arrested in Jan. 2012, on child sex abuse charges. In Oct. 2012, Platero pleaded guilty to a felony information and admitted that, between Jan. 2005 through Dec. 2006, he engaged in and attempted to engage in sexual contact with a child victim who had attained the age of 12 but had not attained the age of 16. Platero further admitted that the sexual contact consisted of the intentional touching of the child victim’s genitals through her clothing. Court records reflect that the offense occurred in Platero’s residence in Tohajiillee, which is on the Navajo Indian Reservation.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback 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/.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
