Skip to main content
April 12, 2013Albuquerque, NM, United StatesChild Exploitation

Former NM resident to serve 4 years in prison for child pornography conviction

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A Colorado resident, who once lived in Santa Fe, N.M., was sentenced Thursday to four years in federal prison and 10 years of supervised release for his child pornography conviction.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and New Mexico State Police investigated this case.

Carl Labadie, 60, was also ordered to pay $500 in restitution each to two victims whose images he possessed on his computers and computer-related media. Labadie must also register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

Labadie pleaded guilty Jan. 11 to an indictment charging him with possessing child pornography in Santa Fe on March 1, 2012. At the time he committed the offense, Labadie was a resident of Santa Fe where he was self-employed as an acupuncture and massage therapist.

In his plea agreement, Labadie acknowledged that on March 1, 2012, New Mexico State Police and HSI executed a search warrant at his Santa Fe residence, and seized computers and computer-related media. The search warrant was obtained based on a police undercover investigation that began in January 2012, which determined that an Internet Protocol address registered to Labadie was being used to access child pornography. While executing the search warrant at his home, Labadie voluntarily participated in an interview with police detectives and HSI agents. During this interview he admitted using computer file-sharing programs to download child pornography for about four years.

Labadie also acknowledged that an examination of the images and videos on his computers and computer-related media by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children revealed 5,350 images and 200 videos of 129 children. These children have been identified as child pornography victims and have since been rescued.

The New Mexico Regional Computer Forensic Lab also assisted with this investigation. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlyn E. Rees, District of New Mexico.

Labadie has been in federal custody since he entered his guilty plea.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.

Updated: