Albuquerque Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – Paul Keenahan, 45, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty this morning to possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct charges.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Keenahan will be sentenced within the range of 60 to 151 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release.  Keenahan will also be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

Keenahan was arrested in Sept. 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with distributing child pornography in Bernalillo County, N.M.   According to the criminal complaint, the investigation into Keenahan began in July 2015, when the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received a tip about an IP address that was being used to share child pornography.  Investigation revealed that the IP address was subscribed to a motel on Candelaria Road NE in Albuquerque, where it was being used by Keenahan, who was then employed by and living at the motel. 

According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement officers executed a state search warrant at Keenahan’s home on July 23, 2015, and seized a laptop computer containing files consistent with child pornography.  Keenahan was arrested on state charges that day.  A forensic examination of Keenahan’s laptop computer revealed that it contained more than 10,000 files of child pornography.

Keenahan was subsequently indicted on Oct. 7, 2015, and charged with three counts of distribution of child pornography and three counts of possession of child pornography. 

During today’s proceedings, Keenahan pled guilty to three counts of possession of child pornography.  In entering the guilty plea, Keenahan admitted that from Feb. 14, 2012 through July 23, 2015, he possessed electronic devices containing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  Keenahan further admitted the following:

• From Nov. 2014 through July 2015, he possessed a computer containing approximately 1,010 video files and 8,949 images of child pornography;
• From Aug. 2014 through July 2015, he possessed an external hard drive that contained approximately 58 video files and 1,530 images of child pornography; and
• From Feb. 2012 through July 2015, he possessed six DVDs containing approximately 170 videos and images of child pornography. 

Keenahan remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, Albuquerque office of the FBI, Office of the New Mexico Attorney General, the U.S. Marshals Service and the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory with assistance from the 2^nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.

 Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Mease is prosecuting the case 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/.

The case also was brought as a part of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico.  There are 86 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.