Joshua Weitz, a 40-year-old Albuquerque man, was sentenced to 78 months in prison for his conviction on child pornography charges. Weitz will serve 15 years of supervised release following his prison term and will be required to register as a sex offender upon completion of his sentence.
Weitz was arrested on November 11, 2015, on charges of distributing, receiving and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. At the time of his arrest, Weitz was employed as a kindergarten teacher by the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS). APS suspended Weitz’s employment following his arrest and subsequently terminated his contract.
The investigation into Weitz began on October 11, 2015, when an agent of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force identified a computer with an IP address later determined to be subscribed to Weitz that was being used to share child pornography files. Investigators downloaded numerous child pornography files from the computer at Weitz’s IP address between October 11, 2015, and October 22, 2015.
Weitz was indicted on December 2, 2015, and was charged with four counts of distributing child pornography and two counts of possessing child pornography. Weitz pled guilty to Counts 4 and 5 of the indictment, the two possession of child pornography charges, on August 24, 2016.
As part of his guilty plea, Weitz admitted to downloading videos and images of child pornography from the internet and saving them on two computers between February 4, 2013, and November 4, 2015. One computer contained approximately 250 images and 358 videos of child pornography, while the other computer contained approximately 34 images and 77 videos of child pornography.
Weitz was ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to three victims who requested compensation. The case was investigated by the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the Albuquerque office of the FBI, and the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory with assistance from the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The New Mexico ICAC Task Force is a coalition of 86 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies working together to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico.
Related Federal Cases
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- Carl Weatherman, Received Child Pornography, Albuquerque NM, 2013 · New Mexico
- Joshua Lasiloo Sentenced to 8 Years for Child Sexual Abuse, Albuque… · New Mexico
- Michael Ray Sepulveda, Child Exploitation and Pornography, New Mexi… · New Mexico
Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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