News Releases

Former U.S. Army captain sentenced to 10 years in child pornography case

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A local man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday following a child pornography investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in conjunction with the Las Cruces Police Department.

David Joseph Dube, 56, a former U.S. Army captain, worked as an information technology contractor. ICE special agents began investigating him in November 2008 after receiving information from the New York Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children unit.

On Nov. 9, 2008, authorities executed a search warrant at his home in Mesilla Park, N.M., and seized computers and other evidence indicative of criminal behavior towards children.

ICE agents arrested Dube on Nov. 24, 2008, after a preliminary forensic examination of his home computer revealed multiple images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct with adults.

A federal grand jury indicted Dube on Dec. 18, 2008 for receiving and possessing matters and visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Dube's 120-month prison sentence handed down on Thursday in federal court includes supervised release for the rest of his life.

"This significant prison sentence shows how aggressively ICE works to investigate and present for prosecution individuals involved in child pornography crimes," said Manuel Oyola-Torres, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in El Paso. "This case also shows how ICE and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners can help bring these predators to justice."

The following agencies participated in this ICE-led investigation: the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of New Mexico, Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office, the FBI, and U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division.

Dube's arrest was part of Operation Predator, an ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. Since ICE launched Operation Predator in 2003, more than 12,000 child sex predators, sex tourists and child pornographers have been arrested.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.