DEPT. OF JUSTICE NEWS RELEASE
Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced Friday that Robert Strand, a former Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office detective, has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading no contest to charges of Possession of Child Sexual Exploitation Material and three counts of Manufacturing Child Sexual Exploitation Material.
“For years, the young victims in these crimes have been haunted by these images of their abuse, which have been shared thousands of times on the internet,” said Attorney General Raúl Torrez. “It is unforgivable that these crimes were perpetrated by a law enforcement officer who had sworn to protect our communities – especially our children. Our office will not stop fighting until every one of these predators is brought to justice and every child is protected from this kind of exploitation.”
New Mexico Department of Justice Special Agent Mariah Gonzales and Victim Advocate Maria Madrid presented letters and a video from victims of Strand’s crimes. These children were identified through the assistance of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children – Child Victim Identification Project.
Strand was sentenced by Judge Christopher G. Perez in the 13th Judicial District Court. After serving his sentence in the New Mexico Department of Corrections, Strand will spend five years on supervised probation and will be placed on lifetime sex offender registration.
Strand, now 42, was arrested in 2022 by Special Agents with the New Mexico Department of Justice Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit, who found thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse on Strand’s electronic devices. In addition to possession, Strand was also charged with three counts of manufacturing visual medium of sexual exploitation of children in which the child was not a participant.
The ICAC Unit is part of a multi-agency task force with a mission to locate, track, and capture internet child sexual predators and child pornographers. As the central command for the ICAC Task Force in New Mexico, the Unit receives all Cyber Tips and Reports made by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators is encouraged to contact law enforcement or make an anonymous report through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at https://www.missingkids.org/cybertipline or by calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).