Edward Christy Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sexual Exploitation and Child Pornography Offenses

ALBUQUERQUE—This afternoon in federal court, Albuquerque resident Edward Christy, 58, entered a guilty plea to a two-count information charging him with (1) coercion and enticement of a minor to travel in interstate commerce to engage in sexual activity, and (2) possession of child pornography. Under the plea agreement, Christy will be sentenced to a nine-year term of imprisonment. Christy will have to serve a term of supervised release of not less than five years and not more than life after he completes his prison sentence. He also will be required to register as a sex offender. Christy has been in federal custody since his arrest on June 1, 2010, and he remains detained pending sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled.

According to court records, Christy was arrested at his Albuquerque residence on state charges on November 9, 2009, after he was found with an underage female (the child) from California who had been reported as missing by her parents. Christy was indicted on federal charges on May 26, 2010, and a superseding indictment was filed on April 26, 2011.

In his plea agreement, Christy admitted that, between October 1, 2009 and November 9, 2009, he induced the child, whom he knew to be 16 years old, to travel from California to New Mexico to engage in sexual activity during sexually explicit conversations with the child. Christy acknowledged transporting the child from her home in Westminister, California to Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 8, 2009, without the permission of her parents. He also admitted having sexual intercourse with the child.

According to the plea agreement, Christy also admitted that, when law enforcement officers executed a search of his residence on November 9, 2009, they seized computers and computer-related media which contained numerous images of child pornography. Christy acknowledged that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children determined that the child pornography found on his computers and computer-related media included 133 videos of 27 children who have been identified as child pornography victims and have been rescued.

United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Charlyn E. Rees and Holland S. Kastrin, and was investigated by the Bernalillo County’s Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the FBI Regional Computer Forensic Lab in New Mexico, the District Attorney’s Office for the Second Judicial District of the State of New Mexico, the Westminister Police Department, and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case also was brought as part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force’s (ICAC Task Force) mission to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico. There are 61 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the NMAGO. Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.