Grants Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison for Distributing Child Pornography

ALBUQUERQUE – Richard J. Dates, 71, of Grants, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 120 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for his conviction on a distribution of child pornography charge.  Dates will be required to register as a sex offender after completing his prison sentence.  Dates also was ordered to pay $1,000.00 to each of eight victims who requested restitution.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez commended the exemplary investigative efforts of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents responsible for the investigation leading to Dates’ conviction.  The U.S. Attorney added, “The victims in these cases are children who cannot protect themselves from harm.  We greatly appreciate the time and resources HSI dedicates to bringing individuals who exploit children to justice.”

“This case shows again how HSI works with its law enforcement partners to investigate and get internet child pornographers out of our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Waldemar Rodriguez of HSI El Paso.

Dates was arrested in Grants in Aug. 2012, on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  The complaint alleged that Dates engaged in this conduct from Aug. 2009 through Aug. 2012.  Dates was arrested by HSI agents after an investigation by HSI in Boston, Mass., identified him as an individual who was distributing child pornography images through the internet.

Dates was indicted in Sept. 2012, and was charged with possessing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct from Aug. 2009 through Aug. 2012.  A superseding indictment was filed in Sept. 2013, charging Dates with two counts of distribution of child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography, and possession of visual depictions of child pornography.  A second superseding indictment was filed in June 2014, charging Dates with one count of advertising child pornography, three counts of distribution of child pornography, two counts of receipt of child pornography, and seven counts of possession of child pornography.

On Aug. 3, 2015, Dates pled guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography, and admitted distributing child pornography on June 15, 2011. 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob A. Wishard and Marisa A. Ong 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.