FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 17, 2017
Contact: James Hallinan (505) 660-2216
Cimarron, NM – Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit, deputies of the Colfax County Sheriff’s Office arrested Simon Garcia this week on charges of Sexual Exploitation of Children for the possession of child pornography.
“Protecting New Mexico children from predators is our top priority, and we achieve that goal through partnerships between rural, urban and statewide law enforcement agencies participating in the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force,” said Attorney General Balderas. “I’m thankful that working with the women and men of the Colfax County Sheriff’s Office we were able to take another child predator off the streets.”
The arrest resulted from an early morning search warrant executed on Garcia’s residence. It was the culmination of an investigation by deputies from the Colfax County Sheriff’s Office along with special agents from the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, a specialized unit in the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General.
Sexual Exploitation of Children for the possession of child pornography is a fourth degree felony.
The Office of the Attorney General oversees the New Mexico ICAC Task Force which is a multi-agency network of statewide law enforcement personnel whose mission is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers. The task force has fully equipped computer labs around the state specifically designed to provide forensic analysis to law enforcement agencies working ICAC cases and special criminal investigations serving all of New Mexico’s 33 counties.
See attached for a photo of Simon Garcia who was arrested on February 15, 2017.
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