Estancia, NM – On February 20, 2020 the New Mexico State Police arrested Joseph A. Lopez (29) of Estancia and charged him with the Sexual Exploitation of Children. This arrest stemmed from a month’s long investigation that was sparked when New Mexico State Police received information about a user who was uploading child pornography on the social media platform Snapchat.
The information came from a tip given to the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children through Snapchat. With cooperation between Snapchat and the three agencies, the investigation led to identifying that Snapchat user as Lopez.
The New Mexico State Police Crimes Against Children Unit served a search warrant on Lopez’s residence in Estancia, which yielded at least twenty-five photographic images of child pornography on Lopez’s electronic devices. Lopez was arrested and booked into the Core Civic Detention Center in Estancia.
This case is still under investigation by the New Mexico State Police. If you live in the Torrance County area and have any information concerning this investigation or have a child that you suspect may have been the victim of Child Exploitation you are urged to call the New Mexico State Police at (505) 841-9256 option 0.
