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Press Release

Former Nurse and Home Healthcare Provider Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – John Jaramillo, 45, of Albuquerque, N.M., entered a guilty plea this morning to federal child pornography charges.  The guilty plea was entered without the benefit of a plea agreement.

Jaramillo was arrested on April 24, 2014 by special agents of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on a criminal complaint charging him with receiving and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  At the time of his arrest, Jaramillo was a registered nurse employed by two home healthcare providers that provides mental health and medical care for children and adolescents.

On May 21, 2014, Jaramillo was indicted and charged with one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.  The indictment alleged that Jaramillo received and possessed child pornography from June 2013 to March 2014 in Bernalillo County, N.M.  During today’s proceedings, Jaramillo pled guilty to both counts of the indictment.

According to court filings, the investigation leading to Jaramillo’s arrest began in Nov. 2013, when an agent with the New Mexico State Police identified an IP address that was being used to share child pornography while conducting an investigation targeting those who share child pornography on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.  Subsequent investigation revealed that the IP address was subscribed to Jaramillo’s residence in west side of Albuquerque.

On April 24, 2014, HSI, the New Mexico State Police, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, and the Albuquerque Police Department, all agencies that participate in the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, executed a federal search warrant at the residence and seized Jaramillo’s computer and computer-related media.  A forensic examination of Jaramillo’s computer recovered images and videos consistent with child pornography.      

Jaramillo has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, Jaramillo faces a federal prison term of not less than five years and not more than 20 years.  Jaramillo also will be required to register as a sex offender. 

This case was investigated by the Sexual Predator Exploitation and Enforcement Detail (SPEED) of HSI in Albuquerque, the New Mexico State Police, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the Albuquerque Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob A. Wishard 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 Operation 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 74 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.

Updated January 26, 2015