Portales man gets 18 months for child porn

STAFF REPORT

The Ninth Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced in a press release Friday that a Portales man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for possession of child pornography.

Robert Hawkins, 25, was sentenced on July 6 after a Roosevelt County jury found him guilty of the fourth-degree felony after a two-day trial in May.

Hawkins was arrested in February 2014 after a search warrant uncovered over 167 images on Hawkins’ computers. The case was a result of an investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) of the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office.

District Judge Donna Mowrer presided over the sentencing hearing on Monday and ordered Hawkins register as a life-time sex offender and also recommended that he undergo substance abuse screening and treatment while in prison.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Jake Boazman and Assistant District Attorney Laura Talbert. Chris Christensen of the Public Defender’s Office represented the defendant.