Kewa Pueblo Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Aggravated Child Sexual Abuse Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – Preston Coriz, 32, a member of Kewa Pueblo, pleaded guilty this morning to an indictment charging him with aggravated sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12 year.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Coriz will be will be sentenced to a federal prison term within the range of 15 to 18 years followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Preston also will be required to register as a sex offender. 

Coriz’s guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales, Carol K.O. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI, and DuWayne W. Honahni, Sr., Special Agent in Charge of District IV of BIA’s Office of Justice Services.

Coriz was arrested in Nov. 2012, on an indictment charging him with sexually abusing a child in Nov. 2008, in Indian Country (Kewa Pueblo) within Sandoval County, N.M.  Today, Coriz entered a guilty plea to the indictment and admitted sexually assaulting a child under the age of 12 by touching the child’s genitals with his hand and finger.

This case was investigated by the Santa Fe office of the FBI and the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.  It was brought 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/.