A former Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office detective was sentenced Friday to six years in prison after pleading no contest to charges related to child sexual exploitation material.
Robert Strand, 42, was sentenced by Judge Christopher G. Perez in the 13th Judicial District Court on charges of possession of child sexual exploitation material and three counts of manufacturing child sexual exploitation material.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced the sentencing, emphasizing the severity of crimes committed by a law enforcement officer.
“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,” Torrez said. “It is unforgivable that these crimes were perpetrated by a law enforcement officer who had sworn to protect our communities – especially our children.”
Strand was arrested in 2022 by special agents with the New Mexico Department of Justice Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, who discovered thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse on his electronic devices. The manufacturing charges involve cases where the child was not a participant in creating the visual medium.
After completing his prison sentence, Strand will serve five years on supervised probation and must register as a sex offender for life.
During the sentencing, New Mexico Department of Justice Special Agent Mariah Gonzales and Victim Advocate Maria Madrid presented letters and a video from victims. The children were identified through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Child Victim Identification Project.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Unit operates as part of a multi-agency task force focused on locating and capturing internet child sexual predators. The unit receives cyber tips and reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Anyone with information about suspected child predators can contact law enforcement or make anonymous reports through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at https://www.missingkids.org/cybertipline or by calling 1-800-843-5678.