ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced that Jeffery Dean Biddle pleaded guilty on Oct. 26 to production and attempted production of child pornography, receipt and attempted receipt of child pornography, and enticement and attempted enticement of a minor. Biddle, 41, of Deming, New Mexico, will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
According to the plea agreement and other court records, from about June 24, 2021, to Sept. 4, 2021, Biddle used his cell phone to knowingly coerce someone he believed to be an eight-year-old girl to take pornographic photos to send to him by text message. Biddle specifically requested “naked” pictures and asked for nude photographs approximately 24 times. During these text exchanges, Biddle also sent nude photographs of himself. On June 24, 2021, Aug. 1, 2021, and Sept. 4, 2021, Biddle knowingly received and attempted to receive child pornography from the person he believed was eight years old.
By the terms of his plea agreement, Biddle faces a minimum of 35 years and up to life in prison.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated this case with assistance from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Las Cruces District Office, New Mexico State Police, the Deming Police Department, and the District Attorney’s Office for the Sixth Judicial District as part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program is a nation-wide network of task forces including over 90 federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies in New Mexico dedicated to investigating, prosecuting and developing effective responses to Internet crimes against children.
Assistant United States Attorneys Marisa A. Ong and Matilda McCarthy Villalobos are prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ .