ALBUQUERQUE – A former kindergarten teacher at the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS), Joshua Weitz, 40, has been handed a 78-month prison sentence followed by 15 years of supervised release for his conviction on federal child pornography charges. The court also ordered Weitz to register as a sex offender upon completing his sentence and pay $1000 in restitution to three victims.
Arrested on November 11, 2015, Weitz was charged with distributing, receiving, and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He was employed by APS at the time of his crimes, which he committed in October 2015, leading to his suspension and ultimate termination from his teaching position.
The investigation into Weitz began on October 11, 2015, when the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force identified a computer linked to Weitz sharing child pornography files. By November 4, 2015, agents had downloaded numerous such files and discovered child pornography at his residence during a search warrant execution.
Weitz was indicted on December 2, 2015, charged with four counts of distributing child pornography and two counts of possessing it. He pleaded guilty to possession charges on August 24, 2016, admitting to downloading and saving videos and images of child pornography on two computers over a period of nearly three years.
This case was investigated by the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, FBI Albuquerque office, and New Mexico Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Mease prosecuted it under Project Safe Childhood, a DOJ initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The New Mexico ICAC Task Force, with 86 associated federal, state, and local agencies, was instrumental in bringing this case to justice and seeks to identify and apprehend internet child predators. The public is encouraged to report any suspected cases of child predators or abuse to law enforcement.
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Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime|Public Corruption
- Source: Official Source ↗
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