NM man pleads guilty to producing child pornography

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A New Mexico man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to producing child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

According to the terms of the plea agreement, Robert Steven Elliott II, 32, of Deming, New Mexico, will be sentenced to between 20 and 45 years in federal prison, which will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. The plea agreement also indicates that Elliott has agreed to pay $210,012 in restitution to the child he victimized. He will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

Elliott was arrested Oct. 30, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with producing and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in Luna County, New Mexico. The investigation into Elliott began Oct. 30, 2015, when a woman reported to law enforcement authorities that she had discovered child pornography images on a cellphone belonging to Elliott. She surrendered the cellphone to authorities. After obtaining a federal search warrant for the cellphone, law enforcement officers found that the cellphone contained multiple images of child pornography, including images of a child under the age of 12.

Elliott was indicted Jan. 20, and charged with six counts of producing child pornography. The indictment charged Elliott with producing child pornography Nov. 23, 2014, and Sept. 28, 2015, in Luna County. Elliott pleaded guilty to two of the six counts of the indictment. He also admitted using his cellphone Nov. 23, 2014, and Sept. 28, 2015, to take a pornographic visual image of a child whom he knew to be younger than 12 years of age.

Elliott has remained in federal custody since his arrest. He remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

The Luna County Sheriff’s Office, the Las Cruces (New Mexico) and El Paso (Texas) police departments, and the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force participated in this investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting this case.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

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-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.