Affidavit: Principal uploaded child porn video featuring boy with tweet “they learn quickly”

The Zia Middle School principal accused of distributing child pornography allegedly had nearly 200 suspected child porn videos in a hard drive, a criminal complaint obtained by ABC-7 states.

Joel Aguilar Villanueva, 42, made his first appearance in federal court in Las Cruces on Thursday. Villanueva remains in custody pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, both of scheduled for April 9, 2019.

A criminal complaint charges Villanueva with transporting child pornography in interstate or foreign commerce and possession of child pornography.

Federal officials said the investigation resulting in the charges against Villanueva began in October 2018, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip that Twitter account azteca88047 was being used to share videos of suspected child pornography. According to the criminal complaint, one of the alleged child pornography videos, 15 seconds in length, depicts a man with a boy believed to be between the ages of 12 and 16. The twitter account user allegedly uploaded the video with the tweet: “They learn quickly.”

An investigation revealed the user of the Twitter account azteca88047 had logged on to Twitter using an IP address assigned to a Comcast account. Court documents list the IP address as 76.113.97.114.

Investigators asked Comcast for the subscriber information for the IP addresses and learned the 76.113.97.114 address was assigned to Villanueva, a criminal complaint states. In the Comcast account for that IP address, Villanueva allegedly listed an apartment complex on Telshor Boulevard in Las Cruces as his residence, the court documents state. Investigators met with the manager of the apartment complex and confirmed Villanueva was the sole occupant and renter of the apartment unit in question, the criminal complaint states.

The criminal complaint goes on to state: “Further investigation additionally revealed the zip code listed on Villanueva’s driver’s license is 88047, which is the same number attached to the azteca88047 Twitter account.”

On April 3, 2019, law enforcement officers executed a state search warrant at the apartment, and seized an external hard drive that contained suspected child pornography. Villanueva was in the apartment by himself when the officers were executing the search warrant. “Villanueva verified that he lived at the apartment and that the items inside belonged to him,” the court document states.

When investigators searched the contents of an external hard drive seized from Villanueva’s apartment, they allegedly found 192 child pornography videos, the criminal complaint states. The document further states, “the majority of the videos depict young boys being analy penetrated or performing fellatio.”

Investigators then obtained a search warrant for the residence on Del Prado Way. “At this time, no evidence of child pornography has been found at that location (Del Prado Way),” the document states.

If convicted of the charges in the criminal complaint, Villanueva faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years imprisonment for the transportation of child pornography charge. Villanueva faces a maximum 20 years of imprisonment on the possession of child pornography charge.

An official with the Las Cruces Public Schools emailed ABC-7 the following statement:

“Yesterday, one Las Cruces Public Schools employee was arrested and has been detained by law enforcement. The District immediately removed this employee from his duties and he has been placed on indefinite leave status.

The district has initiated an internal investigation of this matter, and LCPS is fully cooperating with law enforcement. The safety and security of students is always our top concern.

The district has no information at this time that indicates any LCPS students were involved. Nevertheless, the district has granted investigators access to school technology and other information. This remains an active investigation. Due to the serious nature of the allegations, we are exercising our own due diligence and conducting our own internal investigation.

Superintendent Greg Ewing said he appreciates all of the dedicated teachers and administrators in the district. We continue to offer support to all schools, students, teachers, administrators and staff.

LCPS is committed to providing the best education possible for our students, and we thank our community for its ongoing support.”