ALBUQUERQUE – Jade Tiffany Laurezo, 34, a native of the Philippines, made her initial appearance yesterday in federal court in Roswell, N.M., on a criminal complaint charging her with possessing child pornography.  Laurezo, who has been in the United States for several months on a visitor’s visa, remains in federal custody pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, both of which are scheduled for July 11, 2018, in Las Cruces, N.M.

According to the criminal complaint, the investigation leading to Laurezo’s arrest began in March 2018, when the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) followed up on a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding an email address subscribed to a Roswell residence where Laurezo was residing that allegedly was used to upload three files of child pornography.  On June 27, 2018, the CCSO executed a state search warrant at the residence. 

While executing the search warrant, the officers seized a cellular phone, which allegedly belonged to Laurezo.  On July 3, 2018, the CCSO executed a state search warrant on the cellular phone and found that it contained four videos of child pornography.

If convicted of possession of child pornography, Laurezo faces up to ten years of imprisonment and will be deported after completing any prison sentence imposed.  Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the Roswell office of the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander B. Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office 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/.  Individuals with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse are encouraged to contact the Children’s Advocacy Center at (575) 526-3437, or to contact Homeland Security Investigations at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

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.