Richard Alex Buitimea, Possession of Child Pornography, Arizona 2025

A Pascua Yaqui Tribal member has been locked up for a decade for his role in a child pornography ring. Richard Alex Buitimea, 35, was sentenced last week by United States District Court Judge James A. Soto to 10 years in prison for one count of Possession of Child Pornography.

The FBI and the Pascua Yaqui Police Department executed a search warrant of Buitimea’s two residences located on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation. During searches of Buitimea’s residences, agents determined that the primary target smartphone of the investigation had been recently smashed, and factory reset, thereby preventing forensic review.

Nevertheless, analysis of the Google Drive account established that Buitimea remained actively engaged with the account, which contained CSAM, throughout the period of the upload and retention of CSAM to the account.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006.

The investigation was a collaborative effort between the FBI’s Tucson Division and the Pascua Yaqui Police Department.

According to evidence presented during trial, authorities were alerted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that a Google Drive account belonging to Buitimea contained possible child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Acting on this tip, agents with the FBI obtained a search warrant for Buitimea’s account and discovered over 1,000 images and 21 videos of CSAM.

Buitimea’s sentence was handed down by Judge James A. Soto on an unknown date. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006.