Isleta Pueblo Man Guilty of Child Sex Abuse

A 69-year-old man from Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico, has pleaded guilty to federal child sex abuse charges, according to a recent court hearing.

Patrick Carpio, a resident of the pueblo, was arrested in 2015 on a four-count indictment charging him with three counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of aggravated sexual abuse.

The indictment alleged that Carpio had sexually abused two Indian children on multiple occasions between 1999 and 2013. He pleaded guilty to two counts of the indictment, including aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact.

According to the plea agreement, Carpio admitted to engaging in a sexual act with a 10-year-old Indian child in 2002 and having sexual contact with a 12-year-old Indian child in March 2013.

Carpio will be sentenced to 15 to 20 years in federal prison, followed by at least five years of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender after completing his prison sentence.

The case was investigated by the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Project Safe Childhood is a collaborative effort between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet and to identify and rescue victims.