Police have arrested a Las Cruces man suspected of having and manufacturing numerous images of child pornography, and investigators believe the suspect may have taken photos of victims locally.
Raymond Pacheco, 28, of the 300 block of Jasper Drive in the Las Brisas Mobile Home Park, is charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Four of the counts are second-degree felonies for manufacturing sexually explicit material while one count is a fourth-degree felony for possession of such material.
In May 2019 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children passed a tip to the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office indicating there was suspicious material found on an email account believed to be originating in New Mexico. An investigator with the Attorney General’s Office subpoenaed the email provider and learned the account belonged to Pacheco. The AG’s office then forwarded the information to the Las Cruces Police Department.
Las Cruces police investigators, along with investigators from New Mexico State Police and Homeland Security Investigations, obtained a search warrant on Pacheco’s home and executed it. Inside the home, investigators uncovered several cell phones and tablets.
Upon forensic analysis of the electronic devices recovered, investigators found an email account with numerous sexually explicit images of children under the age of 18. Investigators also found several images of girls that are believed to have been photographed locally. The local photos are not sexually explicit but appear to be taken without the knowledge of the girls.
Anyone with additional information on this case, or reasonable suspicious of being a victim, is asked to call Las Cruces police at (575) 526-0795.
Pacheco was arrested Friday, Sept. 27, on a warrant and booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center where he’s initially being held without bond.
Information from Las Cruces Police