Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Tom Tso pled guilty to abusive sexual contact. Tso, 85, of Tse Bonito, New Mexico, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, will remain on conditions of release pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
A federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment against Tso on May 9, 2023. In his plea agreement, Tso admitted that between Aug. 4, 1998, and Oct. 11, 2000, he committed abusive sexual contact upon a minor under the age of 18. Specifically, he intentionally and directly touched Jane Doe’s genitalia, groin, and inner thigh with an intent to gratify his sexual desires.
At sentencing, Tso faces up to three years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Alexander F. Flores 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/.
# # #
24-46