Font Resize
LAS CRUCES - A 72-year-old lawyer has been indicted on child pornography charges from more than two years ago.
A Do-a Ana County grand jury charged Ismael Luterio Alvarez, 72, former regional manager of the New Mexico Legal Aid Office in Las Cruces, with 12 felony counts of possessing images of sexual exploitation of children.
The investigation began after Legal Aid's litigation director, Dorene Kuffer, came forward to the FBI, suspecting that Alvarez's work performance had been suffering because he was wasting his time online, according to court documents. A contractor hired to search Alvarez's computers reported finding pictures and videos of children engaged in sexual activity - and an "evidence eliminator" program used to erase evidence of the websites Alvarez had been visiting.
Hundreds of CDs were also found in his car and in a bag at his home on the 1700 block of Royal Drive, according to the FBI.
The 3rd Judicial District Attorney's Office claims Alvarez "downloaded these items at work ... (and) once the amount of the photographs became too large, he took many of them home."
Alvarez, who had worked for Legal Aid for 20 years, was fired days after the investigation began. When Kuffer reviewed Alvarez's CDs, to see if any contained client information, she instead allegedly found CDs labeled "teen nymphs," "Russian teens" and "teen erotica" - and turned over all Alvarez's CDs to the FBI.
"We are deeply troubled by this incident," said Kuffer in a news
Jess Lilley, Alvarez's lawyer, has declined to comment on the case.
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.
