Albuquerque Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Production of Child Pornography Charges

Defendant, Prosecuted Under Project Safe Childhood, Faces 25 Years of Imprisonment under Plea Agreement

ALBUQUERQUE – Christopher Glotfelty, 36, of Albuquerque, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning in federal court to production and possession of child pornography charges.  Glotfelty entered the guilty plea under a plea agreement that recommends that he be sentenced to a 25-year term of imprisonment followed by 15 years of supervised release.  Glotfelty also will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

The FBI charged Glotfelty in a criminal complaint filed on June 6, 2017, with producing and possessing child pornography from March 2014 through May 2017, in Bernalillo County, N.M.  According to the complaint, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) initiated an investigation into Glotfelty in May 2017, after receiving information and evidence supporting allegations that Glotfelty produced child pornography of himself engaging in sexual activity with two minor victims.  The complaint alleged that images of child pornography were contained in four thumb drives, two memory sticks, and a camera that allegedly belonged to Glotfelty.

Glotfelty and his co-defendant and wife, Danielle Glotfelty, 32, were charged with child pornography offenses in a six-count indictment that was filed on July 11, 2017.  The indictment charged Glotfelty and Danielle Glotfelty with producing child pornography on March 5, 2014.  It also charged Glotfelty with producing child pornography on April 29, 2014, and possessing child pornography on two thumb drives and a memory stick within a camera on May 11, 2017.  According to the indictment, the defendants committed the crimes in Bernalillo County.

During today’s change of plea hearing, Glotfelty pled guilty to one count of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.  In entering the guilty plea, Glotfelty admitted that on March 5, 2014, he used a digital camera to produce child pornography of a seven-year-old child, and saved the video recording on a memory stick within the digital camera.  Glotfelty also admitted that from 2014 through May 2017, he possessed a thumb drive that contained approximately 297 images and nine videos of child pornography.

Glotfelty has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his  sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

Danielle Glotfelty has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges against her and is pending trial.  Charges in criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and the APD.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathon M. Gerson is prosecuting the case 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 information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ (link is external).

The case also was brought as a part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico.  There are 86 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.