San Felipe Pueblo Man Pleads Guilty to Aggravated Sexual Abuse Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – Alvin J. Valencia, 60, an enrolled member and resident of San Felipe Pueblo, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to an aggravated sexual abuse charge.  Valencia entered the guilty plea under a plea agreement that recommends a term of imprisonment within the range of 180 to 240 months followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Valencia also will be required to register as a sex offender.

Valencia was arrested in Feb. 2018, on a criminal complaint charging him with repeatedly sexually abusing a San Felipe Pueblo child between the ages of 12 and 16 years from Jan. 2017 through Dec. 2017.  

Valencia subsequently was charged in a two-count indictment filed on Feb. 14, 2018, with sexually abusing a minor between the ages of 12 and 16 years from May 2017 through Sept. 2017, on the San Felipe Pueblo in Sandoval County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Valencia pled guilty to a felony information charging him with aggravated sexual abuse.  In entering the guilty plea, Valencia admitted that between May 2017 and Sept. 2017, he sexually abused a 14-year-old victim. 

Valencia was remanded into federal custody after entering his guilty plea and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services.   Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Spindle is prosecuting this case 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/.