Albuquerque Man Guilty of Child Pornography Possession

An Albuquerque man has pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges.

Paul Keenahan, 45, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, entered the guilty plea to three counts of possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He faces a sentence of 60 to 151 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release. Keenahan will also be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

The investigation into Keenahan began in July 2015, when the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received a tip about an IP address that was being used to share child pornography. The IP address was subscribed to a motel on Candelaria Road NE in Albuquerque, where Keenahan was then employed and living.

Law enforcement officers executed a state search warrant at Keenahan’s home on July 23, 2015, and seized a laptop computer containing files consistent with child pornography. A forensic examination of Keenahan’s laptop computer revealed that it contained more than 10,000 files of child pornography.

Keenahan was subsequently indicted on Oct. 7, 2015, and charged with three counts of distribution of child pornography and three counts of possession of child pornography. During today’s proceedings, Keenahan pled guilty to three counts of possession of child pornography.

According to the criminal complaint, Keenahan admitted to possessing electronic devices containing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. He admitted to possessing a computer containing approximately 1,010 video files and 8,949 images of child pornography, as well as an external hard drive that contained approximately 58 video files and 1,530 images of child pornography, and six DVDs containing approximately 170 videos and images of child pornography.

Keenahan remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. The case was investigated by the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, Albuquerque office of the FBI, Office of the New Mexico Attorney General, the U.S. Marshals Service and the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The New Mexico ICAC Task Force’s mission is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico.