For Immediate Release:
December 8, 2022
Contact: Jerri Mares – (505) 321-4372
ALBUQUERQUE — Today, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that James Lucher will serve a four year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Lucher will be required to register as a sex offender for life, will serve a five year period of probation after his incarceration, and will serve a two year period of parole.
“It is disturbing that anyone would harm children in such a horrific way, and exploiting children should come with the maximum penalties under the law,” said Attorney General Balderas.
In July 2016, special agents with the NM Office of the Attorney General were monitoring online peer-to-peer networks for people engaging in the trading of CSAM. Law enforcement learned that James Lucher was utilizing the network to exchange both images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. The case was forwarded to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department’s GHOST unit for follow up investigation, and detectives located additional computer images and videos of children, including infants, being sexually abused.
The case was investigated by the NM Office of the Attorney General, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department, and the FBI’s Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory. This case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Ashley Schweizer and Jonathan Gardner.
###
