Hobbs Woman Charged with Child Pornography

A 27-year-old Hobbs woman has been arrested and charged with producing and distributing child pornography, according to federal authorities. Kyla Norby, 27, of Hobbs, N.M., made her initial appearance in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., this morning on a criminal complaint charging her with production and distribution of child pornography.

The criminal complaint alleges that Norby produced and distributed child pornography between May 1, 2015 and Dec. 30, 2015, in Lea County, N.M. The investigation into Norby was initiated after Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents from Laredo, Tex., arrested a man in Odessa, Tex., who revealed that Norby made a two-year-old child sexually available to him.

A search of the man’s smartphone revealed photos of Norby that included images consistent with child pornography. The man alleged that Norby sent the images to him from her smartphone. Norby was arrested on Jan. 14, 2016, in Odessa, Tex., and was transferred to New Mexico to face the charges against her.

If convicted on the production charge, Norby faces a statutory mandatory minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison. If convicted on the distribution charge, she faces a statutory mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.

The case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of HSI and the Lea County Sheriff’s Office, both members of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, with assistance from HSI in Laredo, Texas. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Lizarraga of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

This case is being prosecuted 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.

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