Clovis Man Faces Up to 20 Years for Distributing and Receiving Child Pornography

ALBUQUERQUE – Spencer C. Lovato, 26, of Clovis, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to an indictment charging him with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography.

According to the indictment, the investigation leading to Lovato’s arrest began in December 2016, when the FBI received a report about video and image files containing child pornography that were being shared by individuals on an online messaging platform. During the investigation, the FBI obtained two IP addresses, email accounts, and telephone account records identifying Lovato as the subscriber of accounts used to distribute and receive child pornography.

Lovato was subsequently charged in a three-count indictment on May 9, 2017, with distributing child pornography on December 27, 2016, in Curry County, and with distributing and receiving child pornography on January 5, 2017, in New Mexico. He pleaded guilty to all three counts of the indictment.

In entering the guilty plea, Lovato admitted that on December 27, 2016, he sent a message on his phone that included a digital video of a minor involved in sexually explicit conduct. Lovato also admitted that on January 5, 2017, he sent a message and received a message that included digital videos of minors involved in sexually explicit conduct.

This case was investigated by the Santa Fe office of the FBI and the Clovis Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mysliwiec is prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Lovato faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. Lovato has been in custody since his arrest in April 2017 and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement. The case also was brought as a part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force’s mission to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico.

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