Canutillo I.S.D. Teacher to Remain in Federal Custody on Child Pornography Charges

United States Attorney John E. Murphy and FBI Special Agent in Charge David Cuthbertson announced that a federal magistrate in El Paso this morning ordered that a Canutillo I.S.D. teacher be detained pending trial on child pornography charges.

Last Wednesday afternoon (September 14), agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested 46-year-old Joachim Rudolf Hees (pronounced “Hays”) at his El Paso residence without incident. On September 7, 2011, a federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment charging Hees with one count of receipt of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, and two counts of receipt of obscene material depicting sexual abuse of a child.

During Hees’ detention hearing this morning, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert F. Castaneda ruled that Hees was a danger to the community. Testimony revealed that agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence in December 2008 and seized three home computers as well as related electronic media. A forensics examination of the seized materials revealed the presence of 71 images and videos depicting child pornography.

The indictment also contains a notice of criminal forfeiture wherein the government is seeking the forfeiture of the defendant’s residence as well as the computer equipment allegedly used in the commission of the offenses.

No trial date has been scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel Crumby and J. Brandy Gardes.

An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.