Las Cruces, N.M.–A New Mexico man was sentenced to 200 years in federal prison for producing child pornography, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations reports.
The sentence for Jim Walter Qualls Jr, 30, from Roswell, New Mexico, was enhanced based on his prior state court conviction for enticing a minor.
Qualls was arrested on child pornography charges July 31, 2014, based on a criminal complaint charging him with possessing, receiving and distributing child pornography, and enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce child pornography.
According to the criminal complaint, Qualls committed these crimes between October 2013 and February 2014 in Chaves County, New Mexico.
Court records reflect that Homeland Security Investigations special agents from Las Cruces executed a search warrant at Qualls’ residence. An investigation identified this residence as the location of the internet protocol address that was used to upload child pornography to the internet. During the search, HSI agents confiscated Qualls’ cellphone, which contained visual depictions of minors engaged in sexual activity.
Qualls was indicted Oct. 16, 2014, and was charged with four counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography. On May 7, 2015, Qualls pleaded guilty to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement.
