TUCSON, Ariz. – On February 6, 2017, Nathaniel Tejeda, 29, of Reno, Nev. (and formerly Ruidoso, N.M.) was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps to 360 months in prison. A federal grand jury issued an indictment charging Tejeda with distribution of graphic and sadistic child pornography involving infants and toddlers. Thereafter, investigation revealed that Tejeda also had produced and shared child pornography depicting a 14-year-old child he met online. Tejada then pleaded guilty to the distribution and production charges.Tejada’s imprisonment will be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, with stringent sex offender conditions and the requirement that he register as a sex offender.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the 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 investigation in this case was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, in Nogales, Ariz. and Reno, Nev. The prosecution was handled by Carin Duryee, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Tucson.
CASE NUMBER: CR 16-0851-JGZ (JR)
RELEASE NUMBER: 2017-008_Tejeda
# # #
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.