Isleta Pueblo Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sexual Abuse Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – Patrick Carpio, 69, a member and resident of Isleta Pueblo, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to child sexual abuse and sexual contact charges.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Carpio will be sentenced to 15 to 20 years in federal prison followed by not less than five years of supervised release.  Carpio will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

Carpio was arrested on May 1, 2015, on a four-count indictment charging him with three counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of aggravated sexual abuse.  The indictment charged Carpio with sexually abusing an Indian child who had not reached the age of 12 years on three occasions between Jan. 1999 and Nov. 2002.  It also charged Carpio with sexually abusing a second Indian child who was between the age of 12 and 16 years in March 2013.  According to the indictment, Carpio committed the crimes in Indian Country in Bernalillo County, N.M.  A superseding indictment was filed on Feb. 24, 2016, that charged Carpio with the same offenses.

During today’s proceedings, Carpio pled guilty to Counts 3 and 4 of the superseding indictment charging him with aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact.  In his plea agreement, Carpio admitted engaging in a sexual act with a ten-year-old Indian child in 2002.  He also admitted having sexual contact with a 12-year-old Indian child in March 2013.  Carpio admitted committing the crimes in the Pueblo of Isleta.

 This case was investigated by the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Mease 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/.