Gallup Man Charged with Child Sex Abuse

ALBUQUERQUE – A Gallup man is facing 12 to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual abuse of a child.

Darryle R. Dennison, 25, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was arrested on June 7, 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he sexually abused a child less than 12 years old on June 4, 2013, in a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation.

During today’s hearing, Dennison pled guilty to a felony information charging him with aggravated sexual abuse and admitted engaging in a sexual act with a child under the age of 12 years.

Dennison has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

The case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI with assistance from the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Presiliano A. Torrez as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Dennison will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

Dennison’s guilty plea was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough, Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI, and Director John Billison of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.

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