ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that Wade Dixon, 33, of Crownpoint, New Mexico, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor in Indian Country. Dixon will remain in custody pending sentencing.
According to the plea agreement and other court records, on July 10, 2021, Dixon engaged in a sexual act with the victim, identified as Jane Doe, who was 13 years old. The abuse occurred in McKinley County, New Mexico, on the Navajo Nation.
By the terms of the plea agreement, Wade faces 13 months in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender.
The Navajo Nation Police Department investigated this case with assistance from the FBI. Special Assistant United States Attorney Chelsea N. Van Deventer is 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/.
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