Las Cruces Man Sentenced to Thirty-Seven Months in Federal Prison for Child Pornography Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – William Edward Jenne, 24, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon in Las Cruces federal court to 37 months in federal prison followed by ten years of supervised release for his child pornography conviction.  Jenne will be required to register as a sex offender after completing his prison sentence.

Jenne was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents on Dec. 4, 2012, on a criminal complaint alleging federal child pornography charges.  According to court filings, the investigation leading to Jenne’s arrest was initiated in mid-Nov. 2012, when an officer of the Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) who was working online in an undercover capacity connected with an IP Address that was sharing files that appeared to contain child pornography.  After determining that the IP Address was subscribed to Jenne, HSI and LCPD executed a search warrant at Jenne’s residence and seized computers and computer-related media.  During an interview, Jenne admitted that the computers and computer-related media contained child pornography.

On July 24, 2013, Jenne entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with possession of child pornography in Doña Ana County, N.M.  Jenne admitted that from Aug. 2012 to Dec. 2012, he knowingly possessed child pornography.  During today’s sentencing hearing, Jenne was ordered to pay $1000.00 in restitution to the victim whose image was involved in the child pornography possessed by Jenne.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of HSI and the LCPD and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Lizarraga of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.  The case 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/.

The case also was brought as a part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (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.