Kirtland officer faces 9 child porn charges

An Air Force lieutenant at Kirtland Air Force Base was indicted this week on nine federal child pornography charges, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.

Between May 2014 and January 2016, Jesse Furse, 34, used a computer to share or possess pornographic videos of young girls, ranging in age between 3 and 11 years old, according to a criminal complaint.

Furse was arrested Feb. 10 and a grand jury sitting in Albuquerque indicted him on the charges on Tuesday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura Flashing ordered that Furse be detained.

He hasn’t entered a plea or been arraigned on the charges.

David Serna, Furse’s attorney, said his client doesn’t have any criminal history.

“We are right now conducting a lot of investigation and research that will culminate in our motion to seek Jesse’s release,” Serna said in an interview.

The complaint states that FBI agents seized evidence from Furse’s home. And last month forensic investigators recovered from a hard drive 1,400 videos that showed young children involved in sex acts, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico. Furse is charged with eight counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child porn.

Each distribution charge carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The possession charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.