After a Homeland Security Investigations probe, a New Mexico man was found guilty of producing and possessing child pornography and was sentenced to 45 years in prison, a department news release says.
Gilbert Gallegos, 46, of Lordsburg, New Mexico, entered a guilty plea to two charges of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child porn, HSI said. The police departments in Lordsburg and Las Cruces, New Mexico, provided support in this case.
According to court records, Gallegos coerced an 11-year-old victim to engage in sexual acts that he recorded on his cellphone. HSI investigators used federal search warrants and retrieved the videos from Gallegos’ phone, the news release said.
“This sentence appropriately holds an egregious child predator accountable for his abuse, exploitation, and degradation of innocent and vulnerable children,” Francisco Burrola, special agent in charge of HSI El Paso, said. “One of HSI’s top priorities is to stop perpetrators like this from exploiting our youth for their deviant sexual gratification.”
Gallegos will face an additional five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender after he completes his sentence, the news release said.
