75-year-old New Mexico man sentenced to 25 months in prison for possessing child pornography

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A 75-year-old local man was sentenced on Monday to 25 months in prison for possessing child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and other agencies.

David Peter Rounbehler, 75, of New Mexico will serve a five-year term of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Rounbehler pleaded guilty on March 3 to one count of possessing child pornography. During his plea hearing, Rounbehler admitted that in July 2007 he possessed 46 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

He has remained in custody since ICE HSI special agents arrested him Oct. 8, 2010. The Las Cruces Police Department in conjunction with the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force also participated in the investigation.

This case is part of ICE's 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.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators by calling 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

Charges in indictments are only accusations. All criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.