Crownpoint Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Statutory Rape Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – Emanuel Yazzie, 23, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Crownpoint, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to a sexual abuse of a minor charge.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Yazzie will be sentenced to 36 months in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Yazzie also will be required to register as a sex offender.

Yazzie was arrested on March 5, 2015, on an indictment charging him with sexual abuse of a minor.  According to the indictment, Yazzie engaged in a sexual act with the victim who was under 16 years of age from March 28, 2014 through April 20, 2014, in Indian Country in San Juan County, N.M.

During today’s hearing, Yazzie entered a guilty plea to the indictment.  Yazzie is in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.

This case is being prosecuted 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/.