FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE – A Shiprock man pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor over a four-year period.

According to court documents, Brian Begay, 30, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, engaged in a pattern of sexual abuse against Jane Doe between 2015 and 2019, beginning when the victim was 12 and continuing until she was 16.

Begay pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact and faces up to life in prison at sentencing.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced this case.

The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with the assistance of the Navajo Nation Police Department and the Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jesse Pecoraro is prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, 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 Justice.gov/PSC.