Richard Alex Buitimea, a 35-year-old member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. The sentence was handed down by United States District Court Judge James A. Soto.
The case began when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) alerted authorities that a Google Drive account belonging to Buitimea contained suspected child sexual abuse material. Following this tip, FBI agents obtained a search warrant and found over 1,000 images and 21 videos of child sexual abuse material in the account.
Investigators from the FBI and the Pascua Yaqui Police Department executed search warrants at two residences on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation linked to Buitimea. During these searches, they discovered that the primary smartphone involved had been recently destroyed and reset to factory settings, preventing forensic analysis. Despite this, investigators confirmed through analysis of the Google Drive account that Buitimea continued to access and use it during the period when illegal material was uploaded and stored.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child exploitation online. The program coordinates efforts among federal, state, and local agencies to locate offenders and protect victims. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
The investigation was conducted by agents from the FBI’s Tucson Division in partnership with the Pascua Yaqui Police Department. The United States Attorney’s Office for Tucson prosecuted the case along with a Special Assistant United States Attorney from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.
