Acoma Pueblo Man Sentenced for Child Sexual Abuse

ALBUQUERQUE – A 38-year-old man has been sentenced to 65 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for a child sexual abuse conviction.

Michael Paul Cerno, a member and resident of Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, was sentenced this morning in federal court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to 65 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his child sexual abuse conviction. Cerno will be required to register as a sex offender after completing his prison sentence.

Cerno was arrested on Aug. 22, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with sexually abusing a 14-year-old Acoma Pueblo girl in July 2011. According to the complaint, Cerno got the victim intoxicated before violating her. Federal law enforcement authorities initiated the investigation leading to Cerno’s arrest in March 2014.

Cerno was indicted in June 2014, charged with sexually abusing the victim in July 2011 in Acoma Pueblo in Cibola County, New Mexico. He pled guilty to the indictment on Nov. 19, 2014, and admitted sexually assaulting the victim in July 2011 at a time when the victim was physically incapable of declining to engage in a sexual act because she was intoxicated.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, and the Acoma Pueblo Tribal Police Department.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Adams as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.

Michael Cerno will serve his time in a federal prison and will be required to register as a sex offender after completing his sentence. This case serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting our children from predators and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.

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