Gallup Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sex Abuse Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – Darryle R. Dennison, 25, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Gallup, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to an aggravated sexual abuse charge.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Dennison will be sentenced to a prison term of 12 to 14 years followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Dennison will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentenced. 

Dennison’s guilty plea was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough, Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI, and Director John Billison of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.

Dennison was arrested on June 7, 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he sexually abused a child less than 12 years old on June 4, 2013, in a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation.  During today’s hearing, Dennison pled guilty to a felony information charging him with aggravated sexual abuse and Dennison admitted engaging in a sexual act with a child under the age of 12 years.

Dennison has been in federal custody since his arrest.  He remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI with assistance from the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Presiliano A. Torrez 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/.