RR man pleads guilty to child porn charges

34-year-old also admits to cyberstalking teen

A Rio Rancho man is facing 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography and cyberstalking charges, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Armando Camarena, 34, pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to a three-count indictment in federal court.

Camarena was arrested by federal Homeland Security Investigations in 2014 for distributing and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to the news release. HSI initiated the investigation after a 14-year-old Idaho girl received child pornography, child erotica and threatening messages on her iPod from an IP Address used by Camarena.

Authorities arrested Camarena after executing a federal search warrant at his home on July 30, 2014, which turned up computer images consistent with child pornography.

Camarena was indicted on Aug. 12, 2014, and charged with receipt of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and cyberstalking, according to the news release. The indictment alleged he committed the crimes in Sandoval County between December 2013 and July 2014.

“In his plea agreement, Camarena admitted that in December 2013, he used a social media application to initiate contact with a juvenile victim residing outside New Mexico,” the release states. “When the juvenile victim sought to terminate contact with Camarena in January 2014, Camarena sent the juvenile victim a series of messages in which he threatened to kill and inflict serious bodily injury on the victim and the victim’s family with the intention of causing them substantial emotional distress.”

Camarena has been in custody since his arrest in July 2014 and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which hasn’t been scheduled.