In a shocking turn of events, Carl Labadie, a 60-year-old Colorado resident, has pleaded guilty to a federal child pornography charge stemming from a 2012 investigation in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
According to court documents, Labadie was charged with possession of a visual depiction of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The charge dates back to March 1, 2012, when Labadie was a resident of Santa Fe, where he worked as an acupuncture and massage therapist.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Artemis, was a collaborative effort between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies aimed at identifying individuals involved in the distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography through peer-to-peer file sharing programs. As part of the operation, agents executed search warrants at 13 residences throughout New Mexico in March 2012, seizing computers and computer-related evidence related to child pornography offenses.
Labadie’s guilty plea came after a lengthy investigation by the New Mexico State Police, Homeland Security Investigations, and the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensic Lab. During the execution of the search warrant at his Santa Fe residence, Labadie voluntarily participated in an interview with agents, admitting to using file-sharing programs to download child pornography over a four-year period.
An examination of the images and videos on his computers and computer-related media by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children revealed 5,350 images and 200 videos of 129 children who have been identified as child pornography victims and have been rescued. Labadie will be required to pay $500.00 in restitution to each of two victims whose images he possessed on his computers and computer-related media.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, Labadie will be sentenced to four years of imprisonment, followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the Court. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlyn E. Rees, with U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales stating that Labadie was charged as part of a larger effort to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Operation Artemis was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
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Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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